4 ms·

better off sitting on their hands than starting a trade war Starting? Begun, the trade war has.

• twblalock 9y ago
  This is not a trade war. This is an example of a country pursuing a protectionist policy program. A trade war would result if the west retaliated by creating new tariffs or bans on Chinese products as a response. That would be worse for the west than simply ignoring the protectionism, and that's why the west hasn't done it. If western countries could become better off by screwing China they would certainly do it right away. Frankly the world has never had free trade; it's just had freer trade in recent years than in the past. There are constant disputes in the WTO about tariffs, subsidies, and other protectionist measures implemented by western countries as well as China. Free-trade deals reduce barriers to trade in some areas and increase them in others. This mapping situation is just another routine trade dispute.