Originally Posted by SecondFloor

I assume what you're referring to here is China's unfair trade practices - forced tech transfer and IP theft. I totally agree that China is a bad actor in the international economy. But the correct response to this is not to throw down tariffs (the cost of which is passed on to the American consumer), it's to work together WITH the international community to denounce China's unfair practices.

Like it or not, its a reality that the U.S. doesn't have the economic clout to bully China. China is expanding their trade network across all Asia and Africa - soon they will have plenty of markets to sell to outside of the U.S. But if a multilateral coalition of nations put up a unified front in the face of unfair Chinese trade (and plenty are willing) then it might actually put enough economic pressure on Beijing to change its strategy.