The problem is that China can live very easily without American goods, while the opposite isn’t true. They already called his bluff even before inauguration, good luck continuing bluffing.

Now I understand how he managed to bankrupt a casino

“If he does impose the additional 50%, US companies would pay a total rate of 104% on Chinese imports.”

This was the bit of information I was confused about before reading this article. I was under the impression that we were already charging over 50%, and for some reason I didn’t realize that we can charge more than a 100% tariff.

As others have already said, JFC we are cooked.

Who wants to bet that the idea of retaliatory tariffs wasn’t gamed out beforehand and they have no strategy?

It seems like if you want a trade war with China, you’d want partners to help you apply pressure and replace Chinese goods you can’t do without. Maybe somewhere like Vietnam for cheap labor; Canada for rare-earth minerals; and the EU to buy expensive American goods and services. Oh no.

The problems with US tariffs is that they build a wall around the USA. All the other countries still trade with each other. China can sell their goods elsewhere, and they can buy what they need elsewhere, too. It might involve some losses, but it will be far less painful for them than the US.

Imagine what the US buys in China: many basic chemicals for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, nails and screws for industry or building, electronic parts of all kind to build about any kind of electronics.

If the US industry loses access to the basic, mass produced ingredients for their production, the current stock market developments will only be a small precursor before Wall Street implodes.

Just block trade and get it over with.