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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

Nike, Nike logo
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Nike logo. Photo: Reuters

Matthew Townsend | Bloomberg
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