No deal can be made without talking, and there's no talking without respect

All sensible minds agree that tariffs are a dynamic reflection of the compromises made between different economies in global trade based on their respective comparative advantages in the international division of labor.

Tariff rates should thus be settled through negotiations between economies with the purpose of striking a balance between protecting domestic industries and providing domestic consumers with diverse choices of foreign goods that are conducive to stimulating consumption and promoting international cooperation which then benefits domestic industries.

The US administration's weaponization of tariffs to address the United States' trade deficit and revitalize US manufacturing is therefore doomed to failure. It not only violates fundamental market and economic law that are based on free trade and market competition, but also the "negotiations" it seeks to have are for the sole purpose of exploiting others to meet the US' narrow ends.