Have you ever wondered what the beginning of a mass trade war might look like? During a second term as president, Donald J. Trump had noticed the struggle with the current economy and during his only four months back in office for 2025, he had enacted taxes on imported goods, known as tariffs, on over 60 countries.  One of the mainly targeted countries for these tariffs was China, as well as Lesotho, a country in South Africa which were both hit with a tariff reaching past 50%. These tariffs were extremely harsh on the United States, impacting things as simple as groceries and gas prices.

For example, gas stations around the world such as 7-Eleven, Circle K, and Speedway have gas prices raised by nearly a dollar, going from costing about $2.50-$2.99 all the way up to $3.15-$3.25. Even standard everyday groceries such as eggs hit an all time high price, costing over $6-$8. Even more complex things such as motor vehicles, or cars, were raised far higher than their original prices, adding an additional 2-20 thousand dollars, just for certain parts of the car that were imported from countries like Mexico, China, and Canada.

On April 9, 2025, Donald Trump announced online that higher targeted tariffs would be paused for an upcoming 90 day time period. However, so that the pause on tariffs could balance the economy, Trump decided that China would be the one country that would not receive the tariff pause, both countries still having to pay tax on each other’s imported goods. Although people were happy about the pause on tariffs, many were still upset that China still gained repercussions for the tariffs. As of now, Trump has a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, resulting in China’s response of a 125% tariff for American goods.