Why Trump Could Lose His Trade War With China | The Ezra Klein Show
My colleague Tom Friedman thinks we’re screwed.
That’s the first thing he told me when recounting his recent trip to China. It’s not just because of the trade war that President Trump is escalating right now. Friedman believes the whole Washington consensus on China — that the country is a hostile adversary — is dangerous and based on an outdated understanding of what China now is. He saw how China’s manufacturing and technology have advanced so far that in many ways it now surpasses the United States’.
In this conversation, Friedman walks me through the advancements he saw in some of the most critical fields of the coming decades — including A.I., E.V.s and clean energy. We discuss why he sees the current consensus as dangerous, what a different path might look like and what the United States should do to develop its domestic manufacturing so that we don’t “get steamrolled.”
0:00 Intro
1:36 Why Americans misunderstand China
10:30 China's technological advancements
15:23 Washington consensus on China
30:15 Trump's tariffs
51:42 Democrats on China
56:17 America's cultural revolution?
1:02:11 Impressions of China
1:04:55 Book recommendations
Watch more on @EzraKleinShow
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at [email protected].
You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-....
Watch video Why Trump Could Lose His Trade War With China | The Ezra Klein Show online, duration hours minute second in high quality that is uploaded to the channel The Ezra Klein Show 15 April 2025. Share the link to the video on social media so that your subscribers and friends will also watch this video. This video clip has been viewed 1,345,024 times and liked it 28 thousand visitors.
