China’s Not the Only Target If U.S. Imposes Steep Tariffs

Last April, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his resort in Florida. It was an auspicious meeting. During the summit, Trump agreed the U.S. would take it easy on China when it came to trade relations in return for help solving the North Korean crisis. Trump also excused himself at one point to authorize punitive missile strikes on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, returning to the dinner table to tell Xi what had just happened, as if to disabuse any Chinese notion that Trump should be considered a paper tiger. And, he noted, they shared “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you've ever seen.”