A State-nudged boycott of US brands gives China trade war leverage

A Starbucks boycott? Mattel or Nike factory shutdowns?, China's 2017 actions against South Korean firms may be model

America’s corporate bosses could be excused if they don’t agree with President Donald Trump’s boasts that a trade war is “easy to win.” They can just reflect on the levers of pain China pulled against South Korean-owned businesses last year to imagine a state-nudged boycott against Starbucks or shutdown of Nike’s factories.

China vows to retaliate against all US tariffs and announced $60 billion worth of American goods it plans to slap tariffs on if Trump’s administration follows through with a proposal to impose duties on another $200 billion in Chinese imports. Since that’s more than the value of all US