The ugly side of reciprocity: The trade war with the United States' partners gets hotter

THE trade war that US President Donald Trump has launched on the United States' most important trading partners is not a one-way street.

On July 1, Canada's national holiday, Canada implemented tariffs on US$12.6 billion in US goods. On July 6, a raft of Chinese tariffs on US goods will go into effect, slapping import taxes on US soya beans, electric vehicles, seafood and pork going into China. The European Union is readying tariffs on some US$300 billion worth of US products to retaliate for the Trump administration's own levies on European steel and other products.

These retaliatory measures against US goods are sure to demonstrate that trade wars are not easy to win, contrary to what President Trump has said publicly. In fact, everyone loses in a trade war.