Beginning in March 2018, the US started to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods and services. China responded by imposing their own tariffs on American imports. This exchange of protectionist policies was referred to as a "trade war" and continued to escalate until a new agreement was reached in January 2020. Now, there is talk about restarting the trade war with China over the Coronavirus pandemic. Check out the following article about the WhiteHouse's Economic Advisor's comments on the site:https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/china-will-be-held-accountable-for-coronavirus-says-white-house-economic-advisor-larry-kudlow.html

It is worth noting that while this perspective comes from the Trump administration, Joe Biden has made comments that do not completely misalign with this perspective :

check out this site: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/02/biden-tells-nyt-columnist-he-wont-immediately-remove-trumps-tariffs-on-china.html

Continuing or re-escalating a trade war with China remains a concern.

1. If they have to re-enter in a trade war with China in which both the US and China impose new tariffs on imports, what will be the primary costs/ benefits?

2. Who will be the main winners/ losers?

3. there are some common reasons for protectionist policies (national security, infant industry protection, etc). However, this is a new type of justification. Is retaliation for a pandemic is a good reason to impose new tariffs on China?

4. Why or why not (in response to #3)? Is reasoning more economic or political?