system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: China started this trade war long ago, long before trump.

China has been using predatory trade practices for far too long now. It's about time the US called it out, and I believe the rest of the world should join the US. That's why I actually support Trump's trade war with China. The economy will be hurt in the short term, but in the long term forcing China to weaken its protectionist trade policies will benefit the US and the world. Basically, back when China joined the World Trade Organization, their predatory practices were let off the hook because they weren't a rich country. Now that they're rich, they should be held accountable and forced to change these practices.
gpt
>China has been using predatory trade practices for far too long now

> Basically, back when China joined the World Trade Organization, their predatory practices were let off the hook because they weren't a rich country

Such as?

They've been penalized by the WTO more than a few times. To be fair, you're right that China has been predatory in some cases, and we don't always punish it like we perhaps should. 

But tariffs are not necessarily the best way to do so. And we may end up harming ourselves more, even in the long term.

>The economy will be hurt in the short term, but in the long term forcing China to weaken its protectionist trade policies will benefit the US and the world.

What if China...just doesn't? Historically, countries are much more likely to retaliate. China in particular is big enough that it's not exactly at our mercy. They've already hinted at retaliatory tariffs. Hence the term "Trade war"- they're not going to sit back and take it.

On top of that, there isn't a lot of evidence that the tariffs that Trump is picking are actually effective or well targeted to succeed. They're targeted to make people feel like he's "doing something". 

There's a reason almost no professional economist outside of those already working for the administration are coming out to endorse them. All the evidence points towards them not really working as intended, and just being feel good measures.