According to The Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump is moving to escalate America's trade war with China by imposing new tariffs on all Chinese-made products imported into the country. 

Currently, the administration's tariff-loving trade policy has been limited mostly to industrial goods—one of several reasons why construction costs have escalated drastically over the last few years. According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump said, “If they don’t want to trade with us anymore, that would be fine with me."

Myron Brilliant, head of international affairs at the United States Chamber of Commerce told The Wall Street Journal, “Tariffs are not the answer, escalation is not the answer. We have to be careful about actions undertaken by either government that would stir the pot and not create the best atmosphere for getting these complicated talks back on track.”

As the American Institute of Architects (AIA) indicated recently in an economic forecast for the coming 18 months, the existing tariff regime is "dampening" economic activity in the building sector and is contributing to the increasing possibility of an economic recession in late-2020.