Triton senior, Andrew Valianti is worried about how our economy could be affected by the trade war between the United States and China. 

“I also view trade wars like a headbutt,” claimed Valianti, “sure, the other guy gets knocked out, but you still have a headache after it.” He believes the U.S. cannot account for the imbalance of trade. 

Since August 2019, President Donald Trump has imposed a 15 percent tariff on many Chinese consumer goods including footwear and clothing. This has had a large impact on China, which constitutes a more than a year-long trade war according to “Trump’s tariffs on $112 billion of Chinese goods begin” on foxbusiness.com. Now the recent Chinese threats to terminate any more imports unless the tariffs are lifted, are raising tensions between the U.S. and China. 

A Triton reporter talked to Mr. Richard Fisher, A Triton business law, finance, and accounting teacher, to get his opinion on this important situation. 

“Trump is trying to address some historical problems the business world has with China,”  stated Fisher, who showed an understanding of both sides of the trade war. Fisher believes that the U.S. and China are “headbutting” and that “China is our major economic, militaristic, and global influence competitor.” 

With the U.S. not receiving Chinese goods, it could take an effect on our economy. Fisher considers the tariff increase an overall negative impact on the country. With than $560 billion worth of goods from China annually, and a possible decrease in Chinese goods, it could make a big dent in the United States’ economy. 

The trade war between the United States in China could be seen as a short term concern for our country or in the long run, a good thing. Mr. Fisher believes that it could be a good thing as well. He thinks that reducing imports from China and profiting the U.S. will increase our economy and makes our goods more competitive. 

 “It will benefit the United States’s manufacturing sector by increasing the cost of Chinese goods thereby making U.S. produced goods more price competitive in order to overcome China’s labor cost advantage.” Fisher said the United States can use it as leverage to get what we want from the Chinese and ultimately improve our relations. It all depends on how the situation is looked at. From a standpoint based upon nationalism, increased tariffs on China are a good thing for our country. But, in globalistic terms, these tariffs can be seen as harmful to our relationship with China.