I joined Al Jazeera English’s Inside Story on Saturday to discuss Donald Trump’s trade war with China, marked by the confirmation of tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese products, and with allies such as Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.

The discussion evaluates the Trump Administration’s motives, looks at China’s responses, and asks, “Is the US now a rogue state?” in international politics and economics.

We are talking not only tariffs against China but against countries that were American allies. It’s not just the tariffs here, it’s also the political insults that accompany then. When you get to the point where Donald Trump and his advisors are saying that there is a “special place in hell” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other foreign leaders, you come back to a starting point: beyond any economic disputes, if you cannot see the American President as predictable or reliable, you enter a zone of instability that we are not used to.

The other panellists are Philippe LeGrain, former special adviser to the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, and Einar Tangen, an advisor to the Chinese government on economic and development issues.