Trump's trade war is actually for the elites

They disagree with his tactics. But not his goals.

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Ask people what President Trump's biggest break with the centrist establishment has been, and they'll probably point to his trade war with China. It's the primary thing that gets him tagged as a populist and a nationalist. Think tanks, economists, experts, and politicians from the center-left to the center-right react to his trade policies with a mix of condescension and horror. The latest round in Trump's stand-off with China just delivered tariff hikes on tens or even hundreds of billions worth of each country's exports, sending Wall Street into a temporary tizzy.

But the gap between Trump's trade war and the preferences of mainstream elites is not so great as this spat might suggest.

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.