On Thursday, the United States is set to place 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese goods. In response, China is expected to add 25 percent tariffs on an equal amount of U.S. goods. Even as Trump champions a strong U.S. economy, the escalation of the tit-for-tat trade war will cause Americans even more economic pain and is not the best way to counter unfair trade practices.

Tariffs are best understood as self-imposed sanctions – literally making goods more expensive and inflicting harm on our own economy. Since many of the items that Americans purchase come from abroad, specifically China, those goods become more expensive when the U.S. charges a higher tariff. On top of that, although a tariff may protect a few jobs in targeted industries, it hurts every job that relies on products produced by those industries. Companies now have to pay more to obtain the raw materials they need. That is all bad news for economic growth.