How China Won Trump's Trade War and Got Americans to Foot the Bill
U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted that trade wars were good, and easy to win in 2018 as he began to impose tariffs on about $360 billion of imports from China. Turns out he was wrong on both counts.
Even before the coronavirus infected millions of Americans and sparked the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, China was withstanding Trumps tariff salvos, according to the very metrics he used to justify them. Once China got the virus under control, demand for medical equipment and work-from-home gear expanded its trade surplus with the U.S. despite the levies.
While trade tensions between the worlds two biggest economic powers didnt start under Trump, he broadened the fight with the unprecedented tariffs and sanctions on technology companies. The tougher approach, according to the scorecard that follows, didnt go as he hoped. But hes leaving his successor Joe Biden a blueprint of what worked and what didnt. .........(more)
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/how-china-won-trumps-trade-war-and-got-americans-to-foot-the-bill