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What is a trade war? 101

Leaving politics right out of this, lets talk about how trade wars work. Then you be the judge of who wins and who loses. (Economics is kind of my thing)
If a country wants to protect an industry, say like steel or Aluminium, it has several options.. One, to place a tariff (a charge or tax) on any imported steel. Two, to set quota limits requiring a licence to import it. Three to subsidize the local people to allow them to sell their stuff cheaper. (Remember Farm subsidies)
Now if a nation does any one these, the oversea export country is likely to pick another product the US is selling them and do the same thing, So.. Who wins? Not the consumers.. Either way, they end up paying more for stuff made from Steel and Aluminium, and not the people trying to sell their other products, say food, which is already costing the consumers money in farm subsidies and now they still cant sell, against the other guys tariff..
So who wins?? The governments at either end, pocketing the tariff money...
That's why no sensible person WANTS a trade war.... There ARE NO WINNERS!!!
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Rusham · M
I found this article interesting.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade/asia-fears-trade-war-after-trump-plans-hefty-steel-aluminum-tariffs-idUSKCN1GE0AN
whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M
Agreed. See how trade then gets tied to national Security issues? They start to differentiate between allies and others.. Its worth noting, though not a true comparison, that the Japanese attack on the US started life as a trade war between the US and Japan.@Rusham