, Columnist
Trump’s Four Rules for Conducting a Trade War
Here’s one: Be sure your tariffs are intended to inflict maximum damage on your own country’s companies.
It works both ways.
Photographer: Feng Li/Getty Images
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New tariffs on Chinese imports went into effect only on July 6, so it is too early to say how the trade war is going and which country, if any, will win it. Even the most die-hard free trader should admit that in theory it is possible that the threat of tariffs can induce other countries to make concessions that leave us (and possibly them) better off. Lose-lose scenarios are, however, also all too possible.
What we can say with certainty is that we are learning four rules for conducting a trade war, President Donald Trump-style.