Level playing field

Trump has said in the past that he believes in free trade but only if there is a level playing field. Without much news coverage he has started to take action. He has placed import taxes on solar panels and large washing machines. This will have two effects. First it will raise the price of these items and second it will make US products more competitive. Is this the start of a trade war? China not only has import taxes but they also have value added tax (VAT) of 13% to 17% on imports. Importing goods to China implicate three types of taxes – customs duties, value-added tax (VAT), and consumption tax (CT) – depending on the nature of the imported good and whether it falls under CT specified categories. These items are complicated, some say by design, but the bottom line is that there is no level playing field with China.