Trade policy was supposed to be Trump's signature issue. But he has never grasped even the basic fact that consumers, not foreigners, pay tariffs 1/ 
Meanwhile, he claims to have struck a big deal with China; but his own trade advisors don't seem to know anything about it 2/ thehill.com/homenews/admin…
And even if there were a deal on autos, it would cut tariffs for all exporters to China, meaning most of the benefits would not go to the US. This is not optional: Most Favored Nation status is integral to the WTO 3/ vox.com/world/2018/12/…
The best guess is that Trump heard what he wanted to hear, that there never was a deal. This is troubling; trade is one thing, but what if he approached murderous dictators with the same kind of ignorance and gullibility? Oh, wait. 4/
