> Are they punishing their own nationals? In the same way that Trump is punishing Americans with the import tariffs, yes. However that is just the primary effe

> Are they punishing their own nationals? In the same way that Trump is punishing Americans with the import tariffs, yes. However that is just the primary effect, not the goal. If you eat less you might go hungry, but that doesn't mean the goal was to go hungry. Rather it was to lose weight, and going hungry is just the direct effect. Part of the goal of retaliatory tariffs is symbolic, part is to indirectly put pressure on Trump by affecting US export industry.