President Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, are engaged in a monumental struggle over tariffs and trade — will Barbie determine the outcome?

Xi is betting that Americans are too spoiled to abandon the cheap imported goods — like the iconic Barbie doll — that have filled the shelves of Walmart and Costco for decades. Trump is betting that China’s economy will swoon under the burden of tariffs and that U.S. companies will prove more agile than expected in shifting output to other countries.

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Trump acknowledged the risk of his tariff war at a recent town hall. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”

Though almost 80 percent of the toys sold in the U.S. are made in China, some makers, like Barbie producer Mattel, have been quietly moving production out of China. Mattel said earlier this year that only 40 percent of its products will be made in China this year, down from 50 percent last year. And Mattel is not alone.

Nonetheless, if tariffs on Chinese goods remain at 145 percent, many toy prices will almost certainly head higher.

Trump also said — accurately — that China “is having tremendous difficulty because their factories are not doing business.” The Wall Street Journal recently ran a lengthy article about Chinese firms scouring the earth for new customers as demand from the U.S.........

© The Hill