《The Tug of Trade War》
"I" closed the notebook at the negotiation table as the dusk outside painted half the sky red. Three consecutive rounds of discussions had left the incandescent lights in the conference room weary, yet the tension in the international situation was just beginning. The latest tariff adjustment plan sprawled across the table in dozens of pages, with yellow sticky notes marking the contentious points as if mocking our efforts.
"The trade war is by no means a quick and decisive blitzkrieg," asserted Professor Chen, a senior trade analyst, at the internal briefing. The historical data curve on the blackboard validated his point: from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act to the 2009 China-U.S. tire safeguard case, the clouds of economic friction always lingered between the peaks of trade surpluses. The coffee cup he raised swayed in the air, "Just like this scalding coffee, it takes time to cool down."
When the third moon rose, I woke up in the office armchair, my phone flickering with news alerts about the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the port's loading cranes were still busy, and the lights bouncing off the containers illuminated the 'Made in China' steel stamp. Suddenly, the screen popped up with international dynamics indicating a rise in trade protectionism; I sighed and stood up to walk toward the desk piled high with documents— the war had just begun.