Noah Smith, Columnist

U.S. Can't Count on Winning a Trade War With China

Maybe Trump's tariff threats will win concessions. The more likely outcome is tit-for-tat escalation.

April 5, 2018 at 9:00 PM UTC

Noah Smith is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.

Who has the stronger hand?
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

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Trade war! Those dread words are on everyone’s lips (and electronic equivalents) as President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping throw out a series of rapidly escalating tariff threats:

Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow, a free-trade advocate, tried to walk back the threats, but this president isn't necessarily guided by the opinions of even his closest advisers.