What's Behind Trump's Tariffs

For over half a century, China has produced items that American consumers want to buy, from early, inexpensive toys and gadgets to today’s high-tech personal computers, smartphones, and advanced equipment and machinery.

What made these transactions so distinctive was that China almost always sold these products at a lower price than any American competitor could match. To Wall Street and the US economic elite, this was the best of all worlds; bringing generally high-quality, low-priced goods to American shores meant that we enjoyed a more affluent lifestyle, and our incomes stretched further.