Trade bullying of US administration will cause damage to global economy

The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China escalated on Friday when the US imposed tariffs on Chinese goods worth $34 billion, immediately triggering reciprocal tax measures by China on goods worth the same amount imported from the US.

The tariff exchange has all that it takes to be called a full-blown trade war that would only intensify if the two sides' trade hostilities were aggravated by further tit-for-tat tariff measures. Which may occur sooner rather than later given the US president has promised further action should China retaliate to the US' latest tariffs.

Yet despite Trump's confident assertion that a trade war will be easy to win, it is only him and his ideological cartel that believe that would be the case.