Why Trump Can’t Spin a Trade War

Joshua Green: “Unlike immigration, the Chinese retaliatory tariffs were felt acutely by some of Trump’s most fervent supporters. Take farmers. As I documented last spring, the 30 congressional districts most reliant on soybeans for economic activity all voted for Trump in 2016. Since then, their pain has only intensified. This week, soybean prices fell to the lowest level in 12 years.”

“But if Trump follows through on his threat to impose a broad new round of tariffs, the number of Americans affected would grow dramatically. The initial wave of $250 billion focused on intermediate or capital goods: the sorts of materials businesses use to make finished products. The next round will focus on $300 billion of consumer goods, everything from iPhones to golf clubs to coffee makers to t-shirts and sweaters. As Bloomberg News put it on Monday, anyone who shops at a mall will become a victim of the trade war. One estimate puts the annual cost at $500 per U.S. family.”