Derek Scissors | AEIdeas
China made a major mistake when it pledged to mirror the initial 25 percent US tariffs on $50 billion of their exports. It did this for the first time in early April and provoked an immediate American vow to go to $150 billion in Chinese goods subject to tariffs. Doing so again was therefore a direct challenge to President Trump’s credibility. This potential “trade war” was started by an inquiry into Chinese theft of and coercion with regard to intellectual property (IP). The best American response is to target Chinese firms that have used stolen or coerced IP to become unfairly competitive.