Donald Trump's Tariffs: How Donald Trump is Making War with China More Likely

DER SPIEGEL Donald Trump's Tariffs: How Donald Trump is Making War with China More Likely Juan Moreno • 41 million • 1 minute read With his tariffs, Donald Trump is plunging the global economy into chaos, and he is taking particularly aggressive action against China. But China has been preparing for this scenario for ten years. There's no other way to put it: US President Donald Trump is plunging the global economy into chaos with his tariffs. The primary goal is clear: US President Donald Trump wants to stop China's rise and is imposing brutal tariffs, especially on imports from there. Even though some products are exempt, the maximum import tariff is a whopping 145 percent. "We will not allow ourselves to be held hostage by other countries, especially not by hostile trading nations like China," Trump said. In the current episode of "Trump's America," host Juan Moreno speaks with Bernhard Zand, SPIEGEL's New York correspondent who previously spent many years in China. For Zand, it's by no means a foregone conclusion who will win this trade war: "Until recently, the US was doing very well economically. China was struggling. But the Chinese have been preparing for this situation for a good ten years and know pretty well how to respond." And there's another danger. If the US succeeds in truly isolating the Chinese economically, which doesn't currently look likely, this could significantly increase the likelihood of a military conflict with Taiwan. In that case, the trade war would be merely a prelude to a full-blown armed conflict, explains Zand.