Kyle Cave

Staff Writer

“Liberation Day” has come and gone as President Donald Trump put a 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs across the world this past. All except for one nation, China.

As of the writing of this article, Trump has slapped a 145% tariff on all Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs at 84%. This number will most likely increase before this article is published.

The Trump Administration’s goal for this trade war is to bring companies back to America to try and make everything here, but what Trump and everyone in his administration don’t realize is that they cannot win a trade war by biting the very hand that feeds them.

China produces most of the world’s needs, such as video game consoles, appliances and clothing. Getting into a trade war with one of the world’s, if not the world’s number one, trade provider is essentially an attempt to tank your economy into a recession and maybe even a depression.

Diplomacy is about sitting down at the table and working out differences between nations. Tariffs and trade wars in 2025 are very harmful, especially with the idea of economic interdependence.

The biggest victims of a trade war are the American people because ultimately, we, the people, will pay the price quite literally by paying more for items, not being able to access certain items due to tariffs or a complete shutdown of trade between nations.

Donald Trump and his administration have somewhat acknowledged the economic pain consumers will get because of this trade war with China. But they are defending their actions with a saying, “short-term pain, long-term gain.”

Why do we have to feel more pain? Have Americans not suffered enough?

Since 2020 Americans have had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing inflation crisis, and now instead of getting economic relief, we are getting higher prices and an inevitable recession.

The Trump Administration has now effectively turned America into the world’s biggest bully. It feels like they are trying to get the world to bend to their will.

At this moment, China is being strategic. They are already trying to get better relations with the European Union to get more trade from them due to our current administration of chaos and uncertainty.

In trade wars, there is no winner overall; Prices go up for the consumer, businesses have to end up moving and relocating to another country, and we sour relations with countries that we have to do business with.

But if I had to predict a winner in the ongoing trade war, I would say China will come out on top. As mentioned earlier, China is the world’s biggest trade partner. They have a lot of leverage in this situation.

Even if this trade war ends tomorrow, China will still be at the top in the long run. If they can potentially strengthen their relationships with Europe and other countries, that is a big victory for their country.

The rhetoric we have been seeing from the administration on China is horrendous as well. Just a few days ago, Vice President JD Vance called the Chinese “peasants” and said how we are getting our products from “peasants.” These are the actions of bullies, and one thing nobody likes in this world is a bully.

Even nations who do not like each other will come together to stand up to a bully if necessary. It has happened in history before.

We are witnessing a battle of two superpowers on the world stage. No matter the outcome, in the end, one thing is certain: America will lose in the short and long run.

The world will never forget how we acted and mending relationships with our allies and China will be a massive challenge in the future.