Tariffs have always been about more than just economics. They are tools of power and leverage, expressions of national priorities and xenophobic fears.
Rick Dunham
But the 2025 U.S.-China trade standoff marks a profound shift. The on-again, off-again tariff war is not just a fight over trade imbalances, but a battle over the very future of global order and the hegemonic ambitions of the world's two largest economies. It is a clash between a MAGA president and a MCGA p