As Donald Trump and Xi Jinping prepare to lead their countries into the world’s worst trade war since the 1930s, they appear to have forgotten the first half of philosopher Sun Tzu’s famous advice to “know the enemy and know yourself”. Neither the US president nor his Chinese counterpart seems to know his adversary well.
On their current trajectory, by the end of this month the world’s two largest economies are likely to have imposed punitive tariffs on manufactured goods and commodities worth $360bn — an amount equivalent to about 60 per cent of their bilateral trade last year.
It could well escalate. Like many combatants on the eve of an epic contest, Mr Trump and Mr Xi are both confident they will prevail. They cannot both be right.
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