Trade war and sanctions

A trade war is an economic conflict resulting from extreme protectionism in which states raise or create tariffs or other trade barriers against each other in response to trade barriers created by the other party. Increased protection causes both nations' output compositions to move towards their autarky position. China and the United States are locked in an ongoing trade war as each country has introduced tariffs on goods traded with the other. US President Donald Trump had promised in his campaign to fix China's "long-time abuse of the broken international system and unfair practices". Starting in January 2018 the U.S imposed a tariff on solar panel imports, most of which are manufactured in China. So today we look at this as topic of discussion.To help us unpack the discussion for the day, we are joined by: • Terry Bell Political, economic and labour analyst• Amanda Fitschen Independent Economist