What are the views on the US - China trade war?

While China does engage in unfair trading practices, the trade war violates international norms. The U.S. should not have used a coalition instead of a bilateral approach. It also should have used a more effective means of retaliation instead of tariffs.

The trade war is a legitimate response to China's unfair economic practices. America is just trying to protect itself by applying tariffs. This will force China to stop its unfair practices if it wants to negotiate an end to the trade war.

The U.S. has the upper hand; it is likely to win the trade war because it can place tariffs on more imports from China than China can place on imports from the United States. Winning will force China to stop its unfair trading practices which will make the U.S. more competitive and bring jobs back to the United States.

The United States should pick its fights better; the trade war with China will harm United States consumers and businesses by causing exporters to lose business and U.S. consumers to pay higher prices.

The trade war is good for China because it provides an incentive for market expansion in domestic consumption and exports, encourages innovation, and necessitates diversifying where it imports from. Also, China is more likely to win the trade war because it can last longer and cause more damage to the United States.

China increasing tariffs on U.S. imports such as food will produce a rise in price for Chinese consumers. Large tariffs of Chinese exports will reduce exports and manufacturing and cause damage to China’s economy. Together, these mean that the trade war will place China at a significant disadvantage.

The trade war harms international free trade. It causes collateral damage to global economies. The trade war is also indicative of a broader isolationist foreign policy direction that undermines global economic institutions which are good for the world.

The trade war is good for the world because if China wants to stop the harm that the trade war is causing it then they will be forced to stop engaging in unfair economic practices. It will reinstate a rules-based order to the global economy.