Beginning Wednesday, shipments arriving in the United States from China and Hong Kong worth less than $800 could face 54 percent tariffs.

I spent four and a half years living there in the mid-1970s during trade negotiations called the Tokyo Round, which set the table for the current negotiations by lowering tariffs on manufacturers. The tariff rates that Trump complains about now were agreed to at the Tokyo Round and a decade later as part of the most-favored-nation round.

The White House has said its agreements with the U.K. and China are starting points, but so far the Trump administration has given up more than it has gained.

President Donald Trump got some good news this week related to his trade war with the world. First, he secured a 90-day tariff truce with China – breathing room to negotiate further. Then, newly released inflation figures suggested his import duties have not really raised prices for American consumers – yet.

Diplomats with the European Union are still waiting for in-depth negotiations to begin. And it's unclear how quickly a substantive agreement with China could be reached.