That raises another long-term possibility. For all of Trump’s talk of a deal he also makes clear he loves tariffs and the power he wields to impose them. Hawks in his administration have been open about their goal of forcing a repatriation of American companies’ supply chains. Trump, too, has hailed tariffs as a way to force businesses to shift more production to the U.S.
So tariffs may be here to stay.
“The president is enamored of tariffs,” says Philip Levy, who served on President George W Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. “He realizes a full-on trade war might shock farmers and markets, so he makes claims that these are part of a negotiation. But he kills all attempts to negotiate.’’
Vulnerable at Home
Trump is signaling he may be vulnerable to domestic pressure and business complaints about his tariffs, a wobble which could encourage the Chinese to hold firm and delay any solution.
Over the summer Trump made much of his decision to more than double his original threatened tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports from 10 to 25 percent. But that drew loud opposition from farmers and U.S. companies.
The tariffs also are not polling well with a Gallup survey in July finding that more Americans believed the they would hurt the economy than help it.
And then there is the opposition within the president’s Republican party. The message from Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, was direct on Monday: “Tariffs are not the solution to every trade problem.”
The Trade War Is On: Timeline of How We Got Here and What’s Next
The complaints yielded some concessions with the administration introducing the tariffs in steps and taking almost 300 product categories off its original list, including certain Apple Inc. products.
Such moves suggest Trump blinked in the face of domestic concern.