US President Trump has threatened to put tariffs on all 500 billion US dollars worth of Chinese imports to that country. In an interview on Friday, he made the threat citing Beijing's retaliation against America’s initial tariffs on some 50 billion dollars of goods.

If his 50 billion trade tariffs were bullying, this latest threat amounts, in my eyes, to a "trade suicide attack". It will not only hurt bilateral trade and economic development in China and other economies, but also hurt US businesses and consumers deeply.

First of all, the China-US economies are so intertwined that many imports from China are actually produced by American businesses operating in the country. Statistics show products made by these companies account for 127 billion US dollars, some one third of China’s total exports to the US. To impose tariffs on all Chinese imports to the US would hurt the interests of American businesses in China.

Secondly, this kind of unilateral behavior will also hurt other economies, as many of the products produced in China and exported to the US also have components provided by other economies. According to an OECD report, China’s exports typically carry over 30 percent of foreign components, and exports of more sophisticated goods often carry 70 percent of foreign content. It’s clear President Trump’s threat will not only trigger a backlash from China, but all of the economies linked together in the global supply and value chains. At stake is US economic recovery and the world's economy which is only slowly walking out of the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this will make a whole host of US consumer products much more expensive. Trade with China has been attributed to saving the average American family some 800 dollars on an annual basis. It’s unimaginable that a day would pass without an American buying something made in China.

Even Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic advisor, said Americans have benefited from high-quality but low-price products from China. What President Trump threatens to do is to punish the ordinary pals and gals on the streets, many of whom have voted to put him in power.

As to the potential consequences, President Trump seems to take it very lightly. With the mid-term elections on the horizon, when asked what if the stock markets were to go down? He said, if it does, it does.

So, does anyone, including himself, understand the economics behind his decisions? Does he really care? When an extremist prepares to detonate a suicide bomb, they are also filled with confidence and fearlessness, thinking they will go to heaven. What if it hurts innocent people? Well, if it does, it does?

So, this is like a suicide bomb threat President Trump has lashed out. The sad thing is, he is not aware of it. What’s even sadder, it will be too late when he is.