People seem to not understand how import tariffs work. They do not fix anything quickly. They are like chemotherapy... things will get worse before they get better. The entire point is to disrupt the US supply chain so that US companies start saying "Maybe we should find a domestic supplier for... everything." The end game of this trade war is one of two things. Either China starts playing fair so that US companies can compete on a level playing field, or US companies stop doing business with China because it is too expensive... But in the short term it will hurt. Tariffs are put in place over night but rebuilding our manufacturing base takes years. We already see major investments being made in domestic production capabilities but a multi billion dollar investment into new steel mills (already happening) will not help the steel industry for years still. Things will get worse before they get better. It has to hurt or US businesses will just keep buying cheep Chinese goods. Personally I think that this would be a gift for Trump. I don't think he cares about option 1 (China starts playing fair) because what he really wants is option 2 (US companies stop doing business with China). Trump knows this will hurt in the short term and has already accepted the short term price. In order for this to work out for Trump he needs to escalate the trade war as fast as possible like ripping off a band-aid. He needs the economy to get through the painful step and start to recover before the 2020 election. Mark my words: The recovery will start in the construction sector because everyone will suddenly want to build a domestic factory.