China may be a bad actor in international trade, but are tariffs the way to deal with them? The candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump has brought international trade policy—especially with respect to China—to the forefront of political discussion. The pre-Trump Republican Party was staunchly free trade, but Trump has challenged and changed that to a great extent, for better or worse.

Free trade advocates (like your intrepid host!) may rightly oppose tariffs in principle, but does that mean we have no way to respond to nations who don't play by fair trading rules? Simon Lester of the Cato Institute says we have several arrows in our quiver.

A few specific topics we covered:

• What is fair trade? We use the phrase a lot, but we should be clear about what we mean.
• Are trade deficits good? Bad? Indifferent? Why?
• Is China actually abusive in its trade conduct?
• Are tariffs the best way to respond to China's behavior?
• What other strategies and tactics does the US have at its disposal?
• Are there national security implications to being heavily reliant on a foreign power for our supply chain?