No One Comes Out the Victor in a Trade War

"Trade war" is an oxymoron. People don't trade unless they expect to be better off, and the way to persuade someone to trade with you is to offer them something in return that they prefer to what they are giving up. Suppose T'Challa has apples and wants oranges. Sufi has oranges and wants apples. They trade at a price they both find agreeable. Importantly, they don't do so unless they both expect to be made better off. We make them worse off if we stand between them and say "thou shalt not."