The Atlantic

The US economy is slowing because of the Trump tariffs; China’s is thriving in spite of them. Team Trump falsely promotes vague five-page outlines with alienated former allies as big deals; China is successfully wooing some of its former rivals, such as Vietnam. America’s standing in the world is measurably sinking; China’s is measurably rising. Courts are ruling that Trump’s tariffs are illegal; public opinion mistrusts the tariffs, regarding them as expensive and unproductive. The promise of huge flows of painless money from tariff revenues is evanescing as the fantasy it always was.