> Given this administration's thinking pattern, wouldn't they see the potential damage to US manufacturers and try to increase tariffs further, vicious-circle s

> Given this administration's thinking pattern, wouldn't they see the potential damage to US manufacturers and try to increase tariffs further, vicious-circle style? I think they will want to do that, but ultimately the US has limited ability to do certain things. > couldn't that eventually obliterate trade relationships entirely and make war more likely? Yes, that is in my opinion the worst aspect of Trump's trade policy. Economic cooperation between people of different nations helps prevent war. Trump is punishing Americans for cooperating with Chinese exporters, while trying to vilify the Chinese government, Chinese academics studying in the US, etc. It's a horrible and repugnant political ploy. The US woke up and looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that China caught up dramatically in the past few decades (during which the US wasted trillions on the middle east). China did not waste trillions in the middle east. Instead Xi lifted an unprecedented number of people out of poverty and invested heavily in Africa. China pours more concrete in a month than the US does in a year, and China produces more top tier hard science research than the US, not to mention China's top universities are 100x more competitive than Harvard. Trump's actions reveal a weak and flailing US, the worst thing any of us can do is assume that he has a clue what he's doing in any kind of negotiation or foreign policy scenario.