I've followed the US-China trade war since 2018, and one pattern keeps bothering me: every round of tariffs seems to hurt American farmers and consumers while leaving the core strategic issues unresolved. My cousin grows soybeans in Iowa, and he lost a third of his export market when China retaliated, yet both governments keep framing these measures as victories. Sanctions and tariffs might be necessary tools sometimes, but I wonder if we're fooling ourselves into thinking that economic coercion can replace actual diplomacy. If a tariff can't force a policy change after five years, should we still call it leverage or just call it a tax on our own people?