President Donald Trump’s trade war with the world involves multiple «trade battles» with US allies and others alike. Each battle uses a particular US legal rationale, such as calling foreign imports a «national security threat», followed by Trump imposing tariffs and/or quotas on imports. Subsequent retaliation by trading partners and the prospect of further escalation significantly hamper trade and investment, and possibly the global economy.

In the article, the dynamics of the trade war are shown in four main sections, or «trade battles». The article analyzes the development of the conflicts for the following goods:

• solar panels and washing machines,

• steel and aluminum,

• technology and intellectual property,

• automobiles.

The article evidences the systematic nature of Trump’s actions, the consistency in imposing the restrictions, and the terrifying rate at which this is done. US trade partners strive to retaliate immediately and proportionally to the damage done to their economy. To give an example, on 22 June 2018 the European Union activated its previous tariff threat on the United States, with the list covering $3.2 billion of US products.

In an interview on 20 July 2018, Trump said he was ready to impose tariffs on the remaining $262 billion of US imports from China not already under previous tariffs or being investigated for tariffs. This time, capital goods and consumer products are threatened, including products like mobile phones, laptops, and clothing.