Trump's trade war to be costlier than feared

US President Donald Trump's trade war with China will be more costly, and more damaging, than even the best forecasters predict. The employment impact in the United States, moreover, is almost surely to be net-negative; that is, more jobs will be destroyed than will be created.

Why are the consequences likely to be so dire?

The reason is because old-fashioned trade wars through the use of tariffs do not correspond to the contemporary world of globalized supply chains.