Before Trump did anything the average tariff on US products entering China was four times higher than the average tariff on Chinese products entering the US; i.e. China had already started a trade war with the US years ago. All Trump was doing was fighting back.
Even though Trump was fighting for American workers whose jobs had been exported the media and even many conservatives attacked him because they feared serious economic consequences.
We're not hearing that so much anymore in part because China has realized that with Trump they're not dealing with a globalist politician who will sell out workers so that the 1% can get richer.
As a result China appears to be taking real steps to end their trade war and dramatically increase US imports to China.
While it's unlikely that the left will acknowledge it if Trump wins we can hope that conservative free traders do.
The problem with the reasoning of those conservatives is similar to the problem of unions. Unions today are mostly a drag on the economy and generally unnecessary to protect workers rights. Though that is changing since more unions may be needed to force an end to the outsourcing of American jobs to foreigners who will work for less money. But back at the beginning of the 20th century unions were absolutely essential to break the power of the uber rich who often refused to share their companies financial successes with the workers.
Similarly in the past very high trade barriers and the idea that the US should produce everything it needs and export lots as well to ensure the flow of wealth into America were common. Those were bad. Today however we're at the opposite point where our tariffs and trade barriers are less than those of the countries we trade with and companies seem eager to ship jobs overseas. In that climate we need less free trade and more fair trade where American jobs are viewed as a vital national asset just as important as the bottom line of Fortune 500 companies.
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