Trump says "boys will be boys" (via press secretary).
There are many tools to use in trade wars; tariffs, quota restrictions, outright bans, boycotts, subsidies or subsidized credit for exports, exports to third countries where the opponent is a rival.
Just exporting to, while refusing to import from, a particular country could also be considered unfair or aggressive.
Trump and Navarro say just hit every tactic or imbalance against you with tariffs, keep it simple.
Musk on the other hand, who imports many parts into the US for assembly into final products (cars), is not so keen on simply using just tariffs.
