though I think it only scratches the surface. While everyone clutches their pearls about a 600-point drop in the Dow (halfway regained, by the way) and endlessly frets about the effects of a trade war on soybean prices, China rips off our intellectual property, militarizes the South China Sea in blatant violation of international law, slowly buys up our corporate assets, and costs us trillions in insanely unfair trade practices that would be instantly struck down in any American court if we tried the same. They promised to try and stop the arrival of fentanyl on our shores and did nothing. They promised to end the requirement for foreign companies to form a Chinese-owned JV, and reneged. They promised not to build military bases in the SCS, and built military bases. They do this because our leadership lets them.

I had misgivings about the TPP, but it was ultimately a mistake to pull out of it. China needs to be isolated by its neighbors. Tariffs are a blunt instrument, and need to be applied but also need to be complemented with other measures, particularly ones that draw China's neighbors out of the Chinese sphere of influence.