Trade Battle

China and the United States have been trade × trade TETRA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES the process of buying, selling, or exchanging goods and services (noun) Lulu and I have a trade agreement in place, whereby she swaps her peanut butter sandwich for my ham sandwich at lunchtime. partners for decades. They have bought and sold each other’s goods. These have included technology, food, and steel.

Now China and the U.S. are in a trade war. On September 24, the U.S. began taxing $200 billion in goods from China. In response, China will tax $60 billion in American goods. These taxes are known as tariffs × tariff ANA MARIA SERRANO/EYEEM—GETTY IMAGES a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country (noun) The president placed tariffs on wheat and corn. . They make imported goods more expensive. People are less likely to buy them.

President Donald Trump says the tariffs are necessary. The U.S. buys more goods from China than China buys from the U.S. Last year, the U.S. imported $505 billion in goods from China. U.S. exports totaled just $130 billion. Trump says the trade imbalance is unfair.

The countries already hit each other with billions in tariffs this summer. Trump says he will tax even more Chinese imports if the country tries to fight back with new tariffs.

Some experts are concerned. They say lower-income families in the U.S. will suffer. “[They] are most [affected], given the likelihood of price increases on everyday items,” like shoes and clothes, says Bloomberg Intelligence.