Trade negotiations between the US and China have ended without any deal,
leading to President Trump further escalating the bilateral trade war. He announced substantial increases in US tariffs, to 25%, on $200 billion in Chinese imports.
In a series of Tweets cheering his own moves, Trump suggested that the
sanctions might remain in place not only during future negotiations, but
might never be eased at all. Trump claimed his relationship with
China’s President Xi remains strong and talks will continue.
Future talks are purely hypothetical, however. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says that there are no planned talks with China as of now, and there is no timetable for any further talks to be held.
The Trump Administration has myriad problems with China, centered on
claims in the South China Sea and the status of Taiwan. President Trump
has made an unusual point of really picking fights with the nation
economically, arguing that the trade deficit is unfair and that heavy
tariffs would force China to accept US demands.
So far, the tariffs have not only failed to make China capitulate, as
Trump predicted, but have done substantial harm to the US economy, and
have left many investors on US markets very nervous about how everything
will shake out.
Trump is making the right move here. Keep ratcheting the tariffs up. The sell-out bastard executives here created this problem because of their greed from the get go.
This is true — and some remedy is needed, but it may be a bit late. China has leverage.
And people paying tariffs are also American companies that produce in China, this affects American importers as well as expirters.
Here is another theory. Do you think Trump really wants to ratchet up inflation? There is so much despair about the lack of inflation. Without inflation, debt levels are unsustainable, and our foreign debt cannot be easily reduced. Higher costs of imports will force higher salaries, will make the constipated financial sector attractive again as foolish people will just take more loans. And will bring money to state coffers to pay down on that debt.
72 years on this earth and POTUSTRUMP has learned nothing.
Trade disputes are often a precursor to war. Perhaps the most pertinent example the Opium wars in the 19th Century, after which China’s huge trade surpluses with Western countries plummeted. Today, the US and China are the largest global economies. If conflict between them cannot be avoided then neither can world war. All the signs from history point that direction.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
I am not sure history is any guide to what is happening at present. Art of the deal is an art — but you do not necessarily win. Not if yku do not have the tools. It seems to be escaping affention of most analysts that times and cir umstances changed. Two biggest ones: massive technological changes and adaptation/lack thereoff of socjetal institutions of governance. China has risen on the back of the old fashioned factory floor provider. And it would have remained a subservient modern colony of foreign manufacurers, had it not been for their government model geared to national interest. In China, nust like in Russia today, states are public corporations, taxpayers shareholders. State assets are public assets, and the country’s interests are the mission of the corporation. Thus, if science or technology, or defence are key to the mission, it is not left up to individual private jnterests to do/not do something about it. In US, political
parties are PRIVATE corporations, they viie for power in order to
use public funds giving contracts to private corpotations for the development of nation-critical missions. This is how science and fechnoligy money are channeled into private initiatives. But such science and fechnology is narrowly fochsed kn product — be that a fighter plane, rocket engines, supersonic flight, robotics, AI or nuclear energy productions and applications. This is not the case in China and Russia, as State (as a corporation), sets up corporate entity to partner with sach and e ery lrivate sector corporatikn in any project. Meaning — all investments and costs borne by each party are kept track off and costs are reimbursed from profits, wbile profit is shared kn the basis of total in estment by each party. There is no ripping off taxpager, and shifing profits to private entity — no matter the overruns. Partering of state (ckrpkration) with universities kr privafe science institutions creates hubs for scientific research, with long term investment. This is why their fundamental sciences are taking off — we only had a glimpse of it with Rusdia’s announcement of four new.next gen military technology. We do not have a single corporation building nuclear power plants. We barely added two new reactors since seventies. We vave one nuclear ice breaker to Russia’s 35+. Rusia bas floating nuclear power plant — capable of moving to where a new demand has bern created, and just plugging to the grid. China’s 5G is not only about faster network, it is about robotics, big data and internet of things — leveraging AI that without alplicability is not of much use.
I see the lush for adding money to Defence a way to use the Department as a manager of new tecnogical push. Including space. Private efforts like Musk Crew Dragon are late and still touch and go when it comes to putting people into spacestatjon. Still no rocket engine to replace Russian RD-180, the first stage engine lifting US beaviest rocket, Atlas V. In the meantime, Russia has a draft plan for Moon orbiting space port tbat would diock Soyuz robots, transfer cargo to Moon transport Soyuz, solving the complicated issue of earth-bound rocket tequirements as opposed to Moon-bound Soyuz. China is exploring dark side of the moon, quantum satelite. As stated years ago — China and Russia are not duplicating efforts.
China will gain many times the size kf US market with Eurasian market and otbef Silk Road infcrastructure connectivity based development.
The only positive glimmer of hope for US is possible appointment of an actual scientist and an engineer to head Defence and its budget. Ckrpkrations will not be able to sell future dreams without making sure that they invest their money, not risk taxpayers alone.
“So far, the tariffs have not only failed to make China capitulate, as
Trump predicted, but have done substantial harm to the US economy.”
No, no, no. Pat Buchanan stated quite emphatically in a piece on Antiwar about Venezuela, that Trump’s policies have ushered in a never-before-seen era of economic health and confidence. Who are you going to trust if not PAT BUCHANAN? lol