Trump initially went for a wide-ranging tariff hike on all trading partners, with China hit hardest. He would pause the majority of what he called "reciprocal" tariffs, including the 20 percent targeting the EU, while still maintaining the baseline 10 percent on all countries. But with China, he would engage in tit-for-tat rises with President Xi Jinping, which have culminated to 245 percent on most Chinese goods.
While the tariff increases have appeared to have paused for now, the U.S. is hitting at China via its other trading partners. But Kyle Haynes, assistant professor at Purdue University's department of political science told Newsweek that while the Trump administration was "trying to force Europe to choose between the U.S. and China," he didn't expect Europe to bite.
