Trade wars, explained

Tariffs can be used as a useful tool to protect domestic industry or to serve as a punitive measure against another country. But President Trump’s bluster and threats of imposing tariffs on foreign imports to the US have raised the specter of a trade war with China, and more recently, Mexico. The “weapons” used in a trade war are the stuff we use everyday — the food we eat, the cars we drive to work and the computers we use. If a trade war can have such a pervasive impact on our daily lives, why would a country choose to engage in one? And what even is a trade war anyway