Trump, China tariff trade war: States rely on China, would get hurt

Mark
Wilson/Getty; Naohiko Hatta/Getty; Shayanne Gal/Business
Insider

• President Donald Trump is reportedly set to impose
  tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese
  goods.
• The move would be an escalation of the US-China trade
  war and another step toward Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on
  all Chinese goods entering the US.
• Tennessee is most at risk from a full-blown trade war,
  followed by Washington, California, South Carolina, and
  Kentucky.
• Check out the impact from a full blown US-China trade
  war on every state below.

President Donald Trump’s trade war with China could be about to
go to the next level, and some states should be more worried than
others.

Trump is reportedly pushing advisers to
impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods
as early as next week. The move would be a major escalation of
the US-China trade war and result in roughly half of all Chinese
imports to the US being subject to tariffs.

Beijing has threatened to impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of
US goods in response, and the moves could be a step to Trump’s
ultimate threat: tariffs on all goods coming in from China.

Economists say a full-blown trade war, with tariffs on all goods
between the two countries, would result in substantial price
increases for
US businesses and consumers. Such a huge trade war would also
drag on US economic growth.

But the pain from the trade fight would not fall equally across
the US.

To determine the biggest losers from an all-out trade war with
China, we looked at the percent of each state’s GDP that was
attributable to trade with China.

The biggest loser from a full-blown trade war with China would be
Tennessee, as trade with China accounts for 7.6% of the state’s
total GDP. Following closely behind are four other states where
5% or more of their state GDP comes from Chinese trade:

• Washington (6.43%)
• California
  (6.39%)
• South
  Carolina (5.87%)
• Kentucky
  (5.39%)

The move also poses a political risk to Trump, since he won 17 of
the 24 states where more than 2% of state GDP comes from trade
with China. And in high-risk states like
California and
Washington, many House Republican incumbents are
facing hard challenges from Democrats. 

Andy Kiersz/Business Insider