[triceratops]

> I also think you have this idea that trade is currently governed by largely linear and symmetric rules

I didn't think that. Every country has tariffs and trade barriers to protect the industries they want to grow or protect. Even the US. Even before this administration or the last one, or the one before that. Sugar, for example.

> Every industrialized exporting country in the world has optimized for exporting to the US

Or maybe, more accurately, to earn US dollars. Possibly because of petroleum, which every country needs? I don't really know, I'm not an expert.