Don Trump and his administration could not tell the truth if they had to.
This is nothing more than Trump trying to keep the markets up from the overdue correction. So he has something to brag about.
The "TRUMP DEPRESSION" is coming, and people that are going to get hurt the worst are his base. I feel sorry for all of them, as the "realization" breaks through the wall of mental denial and miss-placed belief that an egomaniac could solve their problems.
Here's a theory: only an idiot would think tariff wars were "easy to win," but they are a great way to tax the Americana people to make up for the revenue lost by the Republican tax cuts and the reduced enforcement capability of the IRS under Republican assault.
Tariffs are equivalent to a Value Added Tax, and the Genius in Chief was testing its viability.
He ran it up the flagpole, but no one saluted.
So please correct me if I've missed anything. Trump imposed tariffs that have cost ag producers billions of dollars and most of their international trading partners. Trump then removes the tariffs, without gaining any substantial concessions. Ag producers are still in the red and have lost their delicate trade relationships. Trump brags that he won big time. Have I missed anything?
1
@Tassajara - Have to wait and see what the actual agreement looks like before we can assess whether there were gains.
As usual, like all things Trump, this is a shell game. The people it hurts the worst, are Trumps staunch followers who cannot put down their pride long enough to save their own skin.
2
I suspect Trump's critics are disappointed. No recession.
2
US tax payers paid more to bail out the farmers than GM and GM paid back every penny. Will the farmers pay back anything? Will the farmers gain back their markets now that China has found other sources? This was a problem Trump created, cost billion, reduced trade and resolved nothing.
1
Trump is just using this hoping that it will give him a last minute bump in the economy to save him from impeachment. Its too little and too late. He must go and then to jail.
It seems that all the best comments are on the same track as this bit of mine.
2
Obviously if any deal is struck, some tariffs would be rolled back. As written, the article title is not news. What is news is that Trump, as he has done before in other areas from NAFTA to North Korean nukes, has given up. He started conflict, the country paid a price, and now Trump has accepted defeat but he will still declare victory. Trump will make America once again withdraw with less than it started with. The big gains Trump claims to have started this fight for, like intellectual property? He'll claim that he will get them informally or in a later agreement. But he won't even try, because he knows he's been beat.
3
@Marvant Duhon
Note that in the most recently counted year the US is selling $7 Billion less worldwide than when Trump took office and paying $18 Billion more (no, we are not mainly buying more goods - mostly, we have to pay more for the goods we buy because we are buying less efficiently from more expensive sources). The figures are worse now. The world's biggest consumer purchasing day (popular in China, not in the US) is November 11th. I heard on NPR this morning that 78% of Chinese consumers say they are less likely to buy American goods. The welfare Trump is doling out to farmers costs more than the tariffs we collect from China.
So much winning!!!
1
Donald Trump created this problem and now he will take credit for ending it - although nothing will really change. The chaos caused by Trump's irrational and irresponsible foreign policy decisions is a danger to our nation in many ways. He claims to be the one who has built our economy. When the recession comes, and it will, he will blame someone else. He always wants it both ways. It is time for someone reasonable to step up.
1
Except adding to more anxieties and miseries of the US bisiness and farmers nothing else could be achieved by the repetitive and deceptive rhetoric of Trump made at regilar intervals to hoodwink the economic stakeholders for extracting electoral advantage. Again, the US-China trade and tariff war since revolves round the one-upmanship game driven by global hegemonic impulses, it can not be resolved by political gimicry alone.
11
Trump is manipulating the stock market. There must be a pattern of insider trading. Making money while they suffer seems to be his game.
7
@Prof. Jai Prakash Sharma
I find this newfound concern for farmers a bit disingenuous. Normally, NYT readers are very critical of farmers and claim their subsidies should be removed. Farmers are also often depicted as flyover rubes.
The global economy has much to do with our trade and imports. That fact is conveniently ignored by those who fixate on Trump.
Don’t believe it. He’s going to use this as an election strategy. The truth is he has done more damage to trade and manufacturing than any modern president.
246
@Jude Parker Stevens exactly. And the Trump supporters will fall for it. Whatever happened to the "caravan of immigrants and invasion" before the mid terms????? And oh yes how about the 10 percent tax cut for middle class he was espousing religiously also just before the mid terms. Did middle class America get that nice little tax break????
16
@Jude Parker Stevens He's going to arrange for a grand theatrical Signing Ceremony. Anyone who doesn'tthink that's electioneering, should think again.
9
@Jude Parker Stevens
I would put Bill Clinton in there too with his NAFTA trade deal. That wiped out the auto industry, along with many others.
4
Trump is getting rolled again. Xi sees that he is weak.
1
In the end the US will get almost nothing from China but Trump will get to lie about a "great deal" that didn't happen. That's the way he rolls. Unfortunately close to half of Americans believe his lies and exaggerations.
1
Seems likely that once Trump realizes the Chinese will meet his tariffs with their tariffs, the two countries will end up pretty much the way it began, when Trump began this fake act in an effort to demonstrate to his voter bloc that he was Mr. Big Businessman. And all this will have been a lot of screech and nonsense, for nobody's benefit but our absurd President.
The message for 2020 is: Anybody but Trump
1
Just two weeks ago, t___p negotiated a great deal with Erdogan in which we ceded all influence, land, allies, and principles in Syria for nothing that's been identified. I'm very confident now that he's negotiating with China, and I'd be even more confident if I lived in South Korea.
1
Even with a trade agreement - by this point, China has rerouted a substantial portion of its supply chain. Lifting tariffs isn't going to bring everything back.
Are we winning yet?
1
Get your talking points straight. China doesn’t reroute it’s supply chain. They are the supplier! We are the buyer (not the supplier) in the relationship. If your point is that they’ve found other buyers to offload the purchases we would otherwise have made that’s just not correct. We’re still their biggest purchaser and the biggest economy in the world. Not as much bigger relative to other countries as we used to be but if China were to lose significant purchase orders from the US it would most definitely present a serious short and long term problem for them. Us too, but I think it’s pretty clear these tariffs hurt China more than the US.
@Bob
In recent decades China has bought significant amounts of agricultural products from us - note soybeans and pork. That is now slowing down.
Part of the reason that there have been fires throughout the Amazon is that the land is being clearcut in preparation for extended cattle ranching. And as this paper noted about a week back, much of that increased beef is expected to end up in China.
And as other places start selling goods to China, they become more able to buy goods from China in return.
So you're only looking at one side of the equation.
It's not a fait accompli. But it's getting there.
The alleged deal requires Trump to end tariffs before China yields anything else. The reason Xi wants the tariffs gone FIRST is because he knows Trump is unreliable. Any promise made by Trump is subject to change without notice, on a whim.
China knows that Trump is boxed in. He needs to end tariffs to take the heat off his impeachment. He will lie to his base of the great success he achieved whereas nothing was accomplished.
Frankly, less than nothing was accomplished. IP theft is not mentioned, Huawei is being deployed, and every venture inside China still requires massive oversight and endless delays. Bottom line, Trump cost Americans billions of dollars in extra fees. Tariffs cost farmers their livelihood but mostly, Trump's abysmal execution of Tariffs cost America it's honor.
2
Please don't give our disruptor-in-chief Trump any credit for resolving the trade disaster he himself created. Lost U.S. export income, jobs, and credibility for what? So he can pretend to be a master negotiator? Just ask U.S. farmers about what a great trade policy genius Donnie is. In fact, he has done irreparable damage to U.S. agricultural exporters who will need years to regain the confidence of buyers in China after the Trump trade war. Perhaps this fiasco will change the mind of some business people that have supported this charlatan who calls himself a business genius.
3
Merry Christmas!
1
So Trump basically put hundreds of farmers out of business with nothing to show for it. Hey at least us taxpayers got to flush billions down a toilet for absolutely nothing.
2
So what was the point?
3
They must have found some dirt on Elizabeth Warren.
Everything this president does is wrong and illegitimate, Just Like W.
Trump runs for the hills. The Chinese must be chuckling. LLOL
1
Not even zero net gain. DT throws trash onto the street, then sends housekeepers to pick it up.
4
A shorter headline: Trump Caves on Trade War With China
5
Oh please. Wake us when it's over. Farmers are losing their land. Rural America is suffering. And you want to dangle something out there like this, with no specifics and no real reason to think anything has been done? How long do you expect us to fall for this schtick? Trump thinks trade wars are fun. He probably finds amusement in rural America's suffering as well. If you're going to lead, then lead. If you're going to parade sham developments around, then here's what you need to know: We ain't that stupid. Deliver something, or sit down and shut up.
1
Shoot self in thigh.
Remove bullet from thigh.
Claim "victory !"
The American Presidency....starring Dumb and Dumber.
6
Strategy: cause a problem, pretend to fix it, strut & preen.
2
Guess Trump, his family, his cronies and his crooked Republican lackeys have milked the market for all the insider trading they can manage for now, and are cleaning the economy up for the election.
Republicans are liars and crooks.
2
If.
1
Trump may be something of a meathead, but you can't argue with the guy's results. People on the left like to say what has this guy accomplished? As a person who foolishly voted for Hillary, here's how I answer the question: he's lowered taxes so working Americans keep more of their paycheck and businesses repatriated over a trillion dollars to the US that was previously stashed in other countries; slashed business killing regulations so that American businesses can compete in the global marketplace, and we've become both energy independent and a net exporter of energy which makes us less reliant on the volatile middle east; he's pulling us out of middle east conflicts where we've squandered over a trillion dollars and over a million lives; he's managed to keep the expansionary economy going long past its expiration date such that we now enjoy the longest economic expansion in US history and he's presided over stock index record after record so Americans can save for their future and that of their families; his strategy of bombing the ___ out of ISIS has destroyed the caliphate so that ISIS can no longer fund it's terrorist operations throughout the globe, and he ordered the strike that killed the ISIS leader who was among the worst people ever to live; he stood up to China and now appears to be within striking distance of one of the most important trade deals in history (will hold applause on that one until he achieves it).
1
@Bob You got the trump talking points down. Too bad there is no reality there. For example, you are paying more for everyday items that are imported because of those tariffs, way more than any small tax relief you might have got. But don't let facts interfere with your reality.
All statements I made are correct. Your point of Americans giving up gains from tax cuts by paying more for ordinary items is a liberal talking point. We may pay more for items from China although some of the sellers have lowered prices to counter the tariffs, and, in any case, inflation is well under two percent consistent with recent history.
After the Trump Bull runs through the glass shop destroying everything in sight, someone else is able to glue one glass back together, so, naturally, Trump declares the whole thing a "tremendous victory!".
Fifteen hundred farmers have gone broke, but the big kahunas won which seems to be the Trump playbook. A few oil moguls, a couple of coal moguls, all who gave to Republican politicians, found rain that day.
The poor will lose at the cashier register but the billionaires will clean up by dissing regulation.
I grew up under a fierce moral code - never bully the weak, stand up against those who would put down a minority and fight for justice that was inclusive, not exclusive.
Those morals died with MLK. If we do not teach our children to fight for an equal playing field, we no longer live in a democracy.
2
This is apparently fake news that China is spreading to try to force Trump into making tariff concessions in the upcoming initial deal.
3
Can’t wait till the fools who voted for Trump go to do their Christmas shopping at Walmart. Bit of course they will find a way to blame Obama.
1
"Some." "If."
Sounds like a tweet from the president.
And since none of this affects my life like most Americans, except when my 401 dips, wake me when it's over.
This whole US/China trade war will go down as one of the biggest scams in history.
How long are we into this? Two years? More?
Back and forth. Tariffs, no never mind, delay, or change. Meetings or summits? Yes, no, never mind....maybe later.
Screw the farmers, and let the soybeans rot, but then give them millions in extra subsidies. Apple might suffer.....okay, give exemption. Same for other powerful companies.
Have a President who has verbal incontinence who tells his friends what he is going to do, and then watch the stock market move and move.....so he can say the economy is great....which has nothing to do with the S&P 500 or the DOW or NAASDQ. And, everyone around the world can make the same profits, off of volatility......if they are well connected to Trump World.
It's just all so much more corrupt and greedy than ever before.
1
If a deal is agreed on Trump will roll back some tariffs? So Trump will keep some higher product prices?
Tariffs are creating higher cost for products giving American a pay cut.
It is not costing you more to live. Trump's big tax cuts failed the poor and middle class.
2
Any Trumph deal with China will likely be too late for soy farmers in the mid-west where China was a major market. Even before this tariff war many faced selling prices lower than the cost of production so the Trump payments to make up for the "temporary" disruption was a blessing in disguise.
The recent fires in the Amazon in Brazil were likely the farmers there preparing fields to grow soy beans for the Chinese market. So the loss of China market share for mid-west farmers may be permanent. They will, however, vote for Trumph just like the coal miners, auto workers etc who he promised to helo and didn't.
Can these farmers switch to other crops like corn? If not I hope you like soy milk.
1
Unfortunately this article is long on anecdotes about US farmers and short on any statistics or explanation for how much pain Trump is inflicting on China. Two keys facts: Chinese exports to the US have fallen by $53 billion through the first nine months of 2019, compared with the same time period last year. U.S. exports to China are down just $14.5 billion over the same time frame. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/trade-losses-for-the-us-china-mount-into-tens-of-billions-of-dollars.html
3
@JB The third point in the article you linked:
But on a relative basis, the U.S. losses look more severe: U.S. exports to China are down 15.5% compared with the same period a year ago, a bigger drop than the 13.5% fall for Chinese imports.
Nice distortion in your "two key facts".
1
@Allen
Your numbers a distortion too. What really matters is the value as a fraction of GDP and in that measure China is much worse off.
1
@Allen When the Chinese have lost $53 billion in exports and we've lost $15 billion, they've lost a heck of a lot more than we have. As Keith points out, the numbers are even more dramatic when you compare our two overall economies. The US GDP is $20.5 trillion and China's is just $13.6 trillion. Adjusted for the size of their economy, the impact of their losses is 5x bigger than ours.
1
Isn't amazing that right after Trump asks China to investigate Joe Biden. we are having an agreement to end the trade war? I wonder if there is a connection?
2
He's faking his way through this whole process and probably having a blast. Even he must realize by now that his rudimentary ideas about economics are no match for the task. An apt title for his post-presidency memoir: A Perfect Fraud.
2
 wasn’t that the point of driving a deal, rolling back the tariffs? So what is new?
"There is no agreement at this time to remove any of the existing tariffs as a condition of the phase one deal," Navarro said during an interview on "Lou Dobbs Tonight." "And the only person who can make that decision is President Donald J. Trump and it's as simple as that. P. Navarro
1
Mnuchin needs to have his taxes reviewed by Congress. In fact, the whole administration needs to be reviewed for insider trading. Whether a tweet or “it will be a good day tomorrow” all are hints to anyone who has a rudimentary knowledge of markets to jump.
Disgusting.
5
Seriously ?
Trump thows a stick of dynamite onto global agricultural trade.
Then cuts a supposed deal that makes it worse than before.
Then calls it a "win".
Meantime, apple farmers in New England (among other states) are left holding a bumber crop of highly perishable exports they cannot unload before they rot (China and India love American apples.)
It's almost like we elected a serial bankrupt with no judgment. no expertise, no experience, who really doesn't care about them apples.
6
So, beginning to solve a problem
Trump created, and the point was.... to protect Intellectual Property!?!? No mention of accomplishing that anytime soon—so rolling back tariffs to solve a problem Trump created to achieve this is another pointless, painful exercise of Trumpery frippery. Oy vey
3
Republicans must and will pay for this farce of a president and the damage he has done to this country. We will remember the party that nominated him, supported him, financed him, endorsed him, enabled him and apologized for him. Each and every one of them.
November 3, 2020
5
Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is nothing more than a drowning man clutching at straw.
2
Trump’s incompetence is legendary. Three years to accomplish absolutely nothing, just damages and scandals.
He claims victory even when he is a perfect loser.
1
That is a mighty big “IF,” given the Trump Reign of Error’s chronic ability to negotiate a deal.
1
So, if we reach an accord, then some of the tariffs would be rolled back...in other words, nothing has changed whatsoever.
Am I missing something?
2
Trump desperately needs a deal and the Chinese know it. All this kicking the can down the road and buying time has given the Chinese enough leverage to realize Trump is facing real headwinds, with the possibility of impeachment hearings down the road, and a 2020 re-election campaign that desperately needs a record stock market to make the economy appear strong.
So knowing this, why wouldn’t the Chinese demand tariffs to be rolled back at this point? Trying to renegotiate the terms of the deal to their advantage makes complete sense. So, will Trump and his team cave in and be known in history as the all for naught “paper tiger” negotiators?
Or has all this back and forth trade talk been Trump’s grand scheme to invent a problem in the first place, only to set himself up to take credit for solving it by doing nothing?
7
That's great news! I was expecting a big deal that didn't reduce tariffs at all, or even increased them. Such a big surprise! Just didn't see this as a side effect of making a deal. Who knew?
2
If you don’t mind my asking, what deal is this again?
1
If we don’t get significant i.p. & tech transfer concessions, all of this has been a massive goose chase.
8
Did someone wake up and realize placing tariffs on imported goods when you've shipped all your factories to China might not be a good idea?
Nations traditionally impose tariffs on imported goods to PROTECT domestic industries. It's hard to force industries BACK to your country after they've left by increasing prices with tariffs on imported goods, goods that used to be made domestically. All you're doing is increasing the cost of goods.
'Free Trade' destroyed the jobs base in the US. Sir James Goldsmith warned against it in an interview with Charlie Rose in 1994. Undoing that damage may prove impossible.
The US accelerated China's rise by 50 years in letting corporations move factories from the US to China. All the goods produced in those factories became part of China's GDP (where they had been part of the US GDP beforehand). Over the last 25 years, China earned billions making goods for the US market while the US squandered billions in pointless wars.
14
@cynicalskeptic I started my job in US Customs in 1970. I saw immediate indications of low wage manufacturing jobs being exported and little or no government effort to change the dynamic. Now, our big employment jump is in low wage people who drive the middle class around and see that they have food when they are hungry.
Any folks commenting here old enough to remember the big wars of the 60's and early 70's involving the auto industry? Trade war because imports were flooding the market at very low prices. The end result after the USA got tough was that the foreign companies ended up building production plants in the USA and employing American citizens. Tough going for a while for the US auto industry but in the end, it all worked out. Gain comes with pain. Done properly, the gain is permanent and the pain is temporary. Trump is doing the right thing.
3
@old sarge What factory or industry did you work in where "it all worked out?"
2
Everybody knows that anybody who would buy a cheap knockoff Chinese Rolex would never buy through real thing anyway, it’s hardly like they hurt Rolex to begin with. If anything it’s an endorsement of their brand worth more than any number of product placements at the US Open or other major international tennis championships.
There is little doubt that giving up on tariffs would be good for the economy. The commentary here supports that. But why is nobody asking about what partnering up with the world’s worst human rights abusers would do to our own culture and identity as a bulwark of freedom in the world? Where did the hyper-consumerism that is destroying us come from, if not from the abdication of our own principles by nominally American corporations?
7
we will go back to exactly the same place that we were with China before trump took office, and trump will take credit for what a great deal maker he is.
13
That’s the Trump playbook—create a problem then take credit for fixing it....
1
We need to NOT rollback existing tariffs without actual demonstrated improvements in Chinese IP protection, opening its markets, etc. We need to see actual actions, not just promises.
The US economy is doing just fine with the tariffs in place. Unemployment is at a record low, inflation is non-existent, and the economy is still growing. R
2
The belief that China will agree to any substantive reduction in their past economic posture is illusionary. Study their behavior. It has been consistent since admittance in the World Trade Organization in 2001. The question is if America is suffering from loss of trade with China, what other nations are benefiting? Identify them. And most likely, they also enjoy inclusion within the American military defense shield. Start diminishing the American protection of these nations. Economic and political destabilization of these regions will likely ensue. A proper incentive to preclude the continued practice.
2
@R America is not suffering from loss of trade with China, as we hardly export anything to them. It is China that is suffering. If we were suffering, unemployment would not be at a record low. No other country really benefits from America's lopsided trade with China.
3
@RSSF Under your analysis, China should be more receptive to compromise. At present, this appears not to be the case. And it must be noted that Northern California (specifically Silicon Valley) has not endured the hollowing out of industry, like many other parts of the nation.
riddle me this then, why has the American manufacturing sector shrunk under Trump? why has the trade deficit with China increased under Trump? all substantive signs point to China winning this game.
3
So both sides have been escalating this tariff war in tandem, and now they are both backing off of tariffs, presumably as a step back toward "normal"? After all the suffering , what net benefit will this have accomplished for us, if we ever do get back to normal? Darned if I can see it. Seems to me we could have ended up in the same place, or even a better one (without the longterm damage to the U.S. soybean market, for example) without this trade war.
As the saying goes, why go around the world to get across the street?
2
"We will maybe-sorta support-or-maybe-not your business if you do this or that or maybe the other thing but if you don't then we will definitely do something that will do something to me or to you."
Are we sure he's a businessman?
2
This headline basically says that “if we agree on something x in future, then we will rollback our self-imposed mutual punishments”.. Trump has been giving sermons and economic gospels that tariffs are filling up our treasury, we are making so much money on trade wars, and is the best thing ever happened. If tariffs are so good for the economy and China has been paying the tariffs to US, why is he ready to roll back the “good tariffs”?. Why is this news item worthy of NYT to even publish on the front page?
7
I’m tired of reading articles about how the stock market soared on news the trade war with China might be over. Proof that the stock market has nothing to do with actual economic activity and is just a casino. Can anyone point to anything that indicates we will be better off now than we were before dear leader launched this tantrum? China will buy less from us, and we will pay more for what we purchase from them. All this winning is killing me. And it’s not just China, it’s the entire world that trump is fighting, while we pay more and more for everything.
8
In roll back to closer to where we were. Lets see the farmer loses markets so Apple can maybe possibly get the Chinese not to steal intellectual property perhaps. No wonder Tim Cook is happy. Agent Orange pontificated that tariffs were so easy, the dummy played into the Chinese hands in a election year. They aren't bluffed by the strong, great, stupendous, larger than life super hero that we all want to just go away.
2
The article implies that they haven't actually agreed on any specific trade improvements. Is that correct? So it's really just a cease-fire that leaves the combatants in their starting positions. Win!
2
Why am I wondering if this whole China thing, as it careens back and forth, on again, off again, whipsawing stock markets isn't being played by those on the inside? Some people are making a fortune off of this.
10
It’s definitely a good move. President Trump’s tariff war is a very bad business decision. Hope finally wisdom prevails.
3
I love how Americans always use the excuse that "China killed the US industrial sector with cheap labour" as an excuse why America's society isn't anymore the proud well paid blue collar society that it was back in the 50s, instead of having a good look im the mirror and confronting the ugly truth, such as that rampid, out of control capitalism enabled a rich minority of business executives to lay off Americans and shift their jobs to China while the government stood by and watched on ground of reasoning that any interference would be communism
12
In addition to cheap labor, American corporations could escape the burdens imposed on them by environmental regulations passed after the Cuyahoga river burned up. On the other hand, you could save two bucks on a pair of socks at Walmart.
1
The best case scenario is that we are back to square one. We will return to the trade pact we had before we had Trump in the china shop.
Stock market and public euphoria will be short lived.
5
China has been " eating our lunch " since they were ushered into the global economy with undue and unrealistic enthusiasm subsequent to the end of the Cold War circa 1990. Elites ( yes, that overused and overcharged word ) literally gushed with enthusiasm at the prospect of China becoming the world's " work shop " and largest consumer base. It all hasn't worked out too well for American wage earners, while of course the finance industry, tech industry, political consultants and " bag men " have made out quite well. Trump's four predecessors ( two from each party, quite bipartisan ) simply skimmed the various money flows, while ignoring the plight of American workers. Trump is the only president who has attempted serious efforts to apply the brakes to this thing. His trade deal, assuming such occurs, may not be the most comprehensive or the " greatest ", but at the very least it will be a small step to reverse the process that has hollowed out the living standards and future prospects of average American workers.
2
So many of the comments refuse to accept that for a third of our country, personal income, in inflation adjusted dollars,
had been sliding for decades. To these poor souls, Trump seemed a last hope to turn their fate around.
China's leadership seems intent on dominating us economically as Khrushchev tried but failed to do. Give Trump credit for raising the issue. Is the leader we need to deal with the threat? Absolutely NOT.
Think of someone like Michael Bloomberg to do that.
it is easy to avoid tariffs. dont buy anything made in China. it may cost a little more but it benefits everyone.
1
Oh such naive advice. Tariffs drive up the cost of all goods wherever they are sourced. Domestic producers, if any, increase their prices because of lower available supply . They will also increase prices because they are now able. This is why tariffs never work.
2
Hey Steve. That plan assumes that all domestic producers will all act in accord. They won’t. They will still engage in competitive markets. Supply will meet demand over time. The unfair advantage of slave and/or prison labor and environmental indifference in third world hellholes will, as it should, be eradicated.
Are the suffering farmers this ill informed to not see what Trump is doing?
4
Not sure how much they are suffering. Taxpayers are bailing them out with farm subsidies.
2
Wait, if they reach a deal they will reach a deal??? This is so headline worthy...
2
Precisely put. Thanks; bestpost today.
The reality is pretty bad for all farmers,Trump’s stupidity destroyed many farmers from Iowa Minnesota et al. Actually the US supplied was down 49 per cent from a year earlier. Last year, 66.1 million tons of China’s imported soybeans came from Brazil . Trump’s ignorance caused a lot of damage. The Wall Street doesn’t do anything to feed the people that lost their jobs. Trump is a disaster , he’s destructive for the US and for the rest of the world . He needs to go now.
4
Seriously. I just heard he is planning to go back to reality t.v? He never left! Is it just me? Am I crazy? Can this be real? Are we getting a resignation announcement soon? What in the heckens? Vacation anyone? Too old for this.
2
Good thing Trump didn't try "negotiating" this "deal" before he cost Americans so much money. Who knows were the market indexes would be by now.
2
Isn’t the sequence backward? Doesn’t it ordinarily go that the parties would “agree to strike a deal if they both roll back tariffs?”
This smells typically Trumpian: backwards, fishy and ultimately meaningless.
7
China has lost 100 million pigs to swine flu this year. a 1/3rd of their production. tariffs are coming off to get pork and beef.
nothing to do w/ Trump or any negotiating.
3
Lessee...that trade deficit thingie? Up over five percent this year. Attaboy, Donald.
Oh, and a court just ordered Trump to cough up $2 mil in restorations and fines, due to an, ah, shall we say, misallocations of charity funds.
I wonder if Hizzoner has it?
3
Before Trump, I never realized how much of a joke the Republican Party is.
11
Yeah, I agree to stop fighting if we reach a truce too....This statement is meaningless.
2
"if" is both a powerful and worthless word.
Examples of the conjunction:
- I will give you military aid that Congress has authorized "if" you publicly state that you will investigate my opponent.
- I will pardon you "if" you ignore the subpoena.
- I will appoint you as ambassador"if" you donate to my inaugural parade
- I will hire you "if" you will work at less than minimum wage and 'under the table'
- I will not set fire to the Constitution "if" you bend to my will
2
In simpler terms:
Trump choked. Again.
8
Anyone else assuming that Trump will huff, and he'll puff, then we'll end up right where we started, but with a whole lot of farmers losing their livelihood?
6
What a world of difference it makes to finally have a businessman as our president.
After 8 years of Trump, who will vote for a run-of-the-mill hot-air politician anymore?
Please explain how anything is better than it was before the tariffs started? You can’t slap tariffs on stuff, then cancel some of them, then act like we are better off.
3
This is hilarious, well done
The dog of trade policy being wagged by the tail of flagging polls heading into an election year.
6
Where is the republican outrage at the confiscation of Americans’ personal dollars to go the US treasury via tariffs? Isn’t this a redistribution of my wealth to most likely be squandered away by the pols in DC?
4
Meanwhile businesses struggle with their product and supply chains to dance around the Trump tweets about the trade wars. This causes unnecessary hardship on Commerce throughout the world. So much for the business skills of the president, Which are held in very high regard by Republican Congress.
4
Ah Yes, another Trump success story from the master negotiator, a long fought attempt to roll back some of the tariffs on both sides that he is responsible for in the first place. And we are back where we started....accept now we have a record number of farmers declaring bankruptcy along with other American businesses who he has hurt in the process. Such a stable genius
6
Trump says- How can you suburban, white, prosperous voters not glorify me. I’m easing the China tariffs so that those tons of consumables will continue cheap at your mall. Now get out there and ruin the environment, get that race hatred going, grift America for all you’re owed.
5
Dear NYT,
More good news for a roaring economy ... we now have the highest stock market prices, real gains in middle class income and lowest unemployment and poverty rates in generations or ever, depending upon the metric.
It is long past time for The Times to acknowledge President Trump's remarkable achievement, and perhaps reexamine some of the liberal economic shibboleths that have prevented reporters and economists from grasping what is taking place.
3
Oh, I think we’re all in agreement that it’s remarkable. Not everybody could double the budget deficit and dump $2-4 tril on the national debt in flush times. Only took two years, too.
My, my. I am IMpressed.
By the way, you notice that that pesky trade deficit climbed five percent this last year? I thought Sparky was a-fixin’ to fix that.
Piece of advice: don’t throw numbers you don’t understand.
4
This is a filler story because the news coming out today is so bad, the administration is floating around this we won the tariff war with China story. I know the NYT has to report everything but anyone who has common sense knows that the administration wants to have this story in the news cycle. However we all know that nothing is going to happen because it is not real.
We all read the T shirts that the Trump supporter's told us to and we all know how bad the Trump cover up is . So the farmers may get excited because they believe any lie he tells the rest of us are not
5
I have to ask myself why China would do this?
donald is a day to day type thinker. Xi and the Chinese think in terms of decades or centuries.
Xi is worried about an election. Wouldn't it be easier to just insure Xi will not have to put up with donald to just wait a year and watch donald get flushed right down the toilet with the rest of his crew?
China does not need our soybeans now.
1. Over half their hog herd is dead or dying of swine fever.
2. China has developed a new soybean exporter.
3. Chinese govmt. ordered all feed protein levels for hogs
cut in half. Remember the oil embargo? Mileage
standards?
Just another lie from the mouth of donald to put the inevitable off for another week, or scalp the S&P again. I'm not sure which.
But most of all, like in any business transaction, a deal put together on lies will never work. It's just too obvious.
5
This is just Trump trying to manipulate the stock market again.
5
I’d like to read the transcript, too bad it hasn’t been released. Also too bad there are numerous people that are apparently illiterate that thinks it has ben released. It must be true, they bought a tee shirt from trump that says so.
I continue to believe that the average republican voter cannot understand a sentence that has more than four words in it. The really educated ones can understand words with two syllables.
3
Another fantasy. I will believe it when I see it.
4
After losing Kentucky and Virginia, Trump blinks.
6
Bestest part is, we know how this ends: with China cleaning our clock, as it’s cleaned trump’s clock every time their businesses and banks have dealt with Hizzoner.
2
“If”. That’s a big word. Promises, promises.
2
Oh goody, now trump will proclaim he has actually solved something he broke. AGAIN.
7
Prime example of DJT's manipulation of the American populace.
All so predictable, right down to the timing.
4
Chuck Schumer was one of many Democrats who applauded Trump for actions against China for intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, and other activities detrimental to American businesses. Clearly, some of the comments below are made out of hate for Trump and ignorance of the facts.
2
Trump is desperate for a deal as he knows the foolhardy trade war he started is a vote loser in 2020.
3
What we need is a competent manager in the WH. What is there now is a fake, failed "businessman" driven by a pitiful ego.
5
So many Americans were stretched to the limit BEFORE these tariffs kicked in.
All this trade war did was cost Americans more money than they could afford to lose and had in their bank accounts and under their mattresses.
More people are worse off now than they were prior to this ridiculous debacle.
Way to go Mr. President!!
5
....and everything went back the way it was before...
2
So, a deal...if, eh? Psht. I’m clutching my pearls!
1
I'm seeing a lot of reader's comments whose IP addresses have been filtered through VPNs to hide their true location in St. Petersburg.
4
Start a trade war. Change the rules of the trade war. Get concessions, give concessions - all thanks to President Keep 'Em Guessing and Off Balance. He is the master of economic Munchausen Disorder.
3
the entire trump presidency has been about fixing problems that trump created.
ridiculous.
5
Mr. Trump is the "great negotiator" (like William Shatner, in the Priceline TV ads). The "Art of the Deal", don't you know?
- Yeah, right.
Where is the North Korean denuclearization?
Where is the USMCA (new NAFTA) ratification?
Where is Jared's Middle East Piece [sic]?
Where is our domestic infrastructure plan?
Where is our better, cheaper national healthcare plan?
Where is the wall that Mexico was going to pay for?
Where are those factory jobs in the Midwest?
Mr. Trump is neither a businessman nor a billionaire. He just played one on TV.
Rather, he is a lifelong failure, a loser, a conman, and an imposter.
The only thing I will give him credit for is that he is a highly successful cult leader. He puts Jim Jones and David Koresh to shame. (But consider how that career path tends to end.)
6
"If deal is struck". In other words, this is a non-story.
4
Meanwhile, Dan Scavino* is messaging all his friends to either short or long the stock market, based on the upcoming tweet of the moment.
* Dan Scavino is Mr. Trump's former golf caddy, and now the White House social media director. You can't make this stuff up.
5
Nothing like discounted products from slave labor and prison camps. Corporate America will be happy.
1
That’ll make up for everything.
2
Let’s define eased tensions
As trumpian kickbacks
1
Headline from 1945: United States and Germany Agree to Stop Shooting if Truce is Struck.
How about a headline from 1938:
United States Assures Germany of Non-Intervention in Europe As it Pens New Trade Deal.
This is a face saving attempt to placate the liar in White House until he is kicked out. China can wait.
5
This headline and article offer nothing substantial about what is even being considered in the "deal". This is essentially non-news. Why even write this article?
2
The main problem with Trump imposing tariffs is that the farmers who sold soybeans, corn and other agricultural products is that they no longer have, and will not again have, the Chinese markets they started out with. Once those markets were gone, in all probability will not return and are gone forever. I don't see how loser Trump can call this a 'win' since it was done for nothing but LOSS and we Americans paid a high price. He is a moron.
2
Trump exclaims:
"Stock Market up big today. A New Record. Enjoy!"
I'm sure that all of those farmers in the American heartland are overjoyed that the gains in their stock portfolios will make up for the losses they've suffered because of Trump's tariffs.
125
@Paul-A Shocking, but I think they still support Trump.
8
@Paul-A
Farmers are smart enough to know progressive policy on climate change will put them out of business. Electric tractors, trucks, and equipment are a pipe dream. We’ve also had cheaper commodity prices before this trade war ever occurred. Trump had one of the largest disaster payments the industry has ever seen using the tariff money. Lastly WE know things will be better in the long run with actual fair reciprocal trade. Something no other President from either party had the spine to take on.
@Paul-A:
The losses WE suffered. Just like in Russia, Trump has given over $25 billion dollars in subsidies to the American collective farming of America; and it’s all borrowed money, adding to our national debt.
19
Trump needs some "good news" to divert attention from his impeachment and election problems. He is the more needy party in this negotiation at this point.
Need we remind the Democrats that while getting a little relief on both side's might be fine, there should be no immediate relief to Trump's voter base that's hurting badly by the trade war? Not before the 2020 election.
Don't let the farmers forget who is responsible for their bankruptcies and farmer suicides.
China already struck deals to buy from other countries happy to replace American farmers. By all means they should buy a few American carrots, but not enough to get farmers wear the MAGA caps again.
4
Like virtually all things Trump: full of sound and fury, signifying less than nothing. Generate chaos, return to something approximating normalcy, pound chest and declare it’s the greatest thing since the discovery of fire. Then arrange a photo op.
7
The only way this would succeed is to have definitive policies that will be able to also accommodate Canada, Mexico and Europe, so in essence unless Trump and Xi include the above the trade deal will only be a temporary fix, this no longer is the world of unilateral deals for if only two countries deal together that means others need to increase their exports and monitor their imports yet remain competitive,
the only way to do that is to go back to the TPP, when you review what is being negotiated it is the version of TPP the same as when they renegotiated NAFTA, we have to be realistic, the governments are well aware that the majority of citizens are not as financially savay as maybe we should be so when they tell us that something is going to be so great we really have to do our homework in order to be completly and properly informed, also lets remember whenever you are in a campaign mode such as Trump you tend to give more away, these deals are not signed immediatly and must go thru congress, so yes this would be good temporarily until China decides to stray from it and a new American Government decides to sign it.
2
As far as I can tell, China appears to be in no hurry to sign anything, what with trump thinking he can tear up any given policy or treaty or agreement simply because the notion struck him that he could. Nobody trusts him or America any more. And why there are still those who applaud Trump's every irrational act while not caring about the inevitable repercussions is beyond any rational adult.
10
So we're back where we started...
...except that it's hard to ignore the damage to GDP that has already occurred.
5
Someone needs to explain to me (and more importantly, the farmers), what gain we achieved for the pain.
Poor strategy and poor execution, but I’m sure the President will trumpet success over the (“Phase 1”) healing of his self-inflicted wound.
11
@JD : Farmers have gained nothing. trump saying so doesn't make it so. Why do farmers continue to support them against their interests? He is the last person in this country that has any understanding about the daily life and grind of farming, nor the razor thin margin. In a bad year, trump declare bankruptcy, in a bad year, farmers go out of business.
3
@JD The US has absolutely gained nothing compared to when DJT first threatened to impose tariffs. China then agreed to purchase not only agricultural products but also Boeing jets and many more. It also agreed to strengthen IP protection, end forced tech transfer, open up its financial services sector, etc.
DJT and his cronies felt that was not enough, or that it came too easy so it won't show how great he is as POTUS. Now after a long, tedious, painful trade war that dragged on for almost 2 years we're back to exactly Square One. Of course China suffered a great deal too but it held its ground and the US inflicted a lot of pain on itself during this process too. Just ask those farmers who voted for trump, they knew it all too well.
3
classic trump. create chaos, blame others, ignore consequences, let others fix, take credit.
13
.. until (and unless) trump tweets it .. the deal is not real .. and even then another tweet can (and likely) will cancel the deal .. ;-)
2
So does this go in the win column for Trump?
I mean, he almost, sort of, made progress towards fixing our trade problems with China that he created from scratch.
6
@Matt
"So does this go in the win column for Trump? "
Two steps backward, one step forward.
So, no.
3
How many phases have to be reached for trump to claim an easy trade war win?
1
As Joe Blow said earlier, people are making money off this *will they or won't they* trade deal nonsense by shorting the market. Amazing how it always happens when a distraction from other news is needed. I want an investigation into WHO is shorting the market. This is happening way too often.
And also, STOP reporting there is a trade deal until there is an actual, executed trade deal! The media is crying wolf with all this deal nonsense!
5
Trump takes credit for the stock market reacting to the possibility that Trump's insane Tariff Trade War ("trade wars are good and easy to win") might finally be ramping down. So long as Trump's ego doesn't get in the way of more reasonable people making decisions. Trump, of course, doesn't mention that he started the whole Trade War tiff in the first place, and that he has gotten nothing from China that they wouldn't have done anyway. They aren't buying any more 'agricultural products' than they were before, and they have not agreed to any enforceable IP protections mechanism.
A sports announcer might shout "Trump fumbles, he drops the ball, he spins and spins, and tries to get it back. What a play, what a show!"
Once again, Trump creates a mess to solve a problem, the mess does nothing but make things worse. Finally people who know what they are doing step in, and paper over the mess, and when their work finally starts to clean up his mess, he takes credit for the fix and moves on to his next corrupt destruction... climate change, anyone?
November 2020 *cannot* come soon enough.
6
So, what did we win?
I would be interested if the NYTimes would provide a detailed report of the 'before' and 'after' from the Tariff Wars. I think it would be a great debate point for the 2020 debates.
6
This is all nonsense, tariffs or no tariffs.
Until China stops making foreign companies hand over their IPs, partner with a Chinese company, or spying on them, there is no deal that matters.
If you want to know what future China is interested in, go look at Hong Kong. Maybe that's why people should ask Apple why it has to produce its phones in China, while Samsung, a not American company, manages to produce its phones outside of China.
1
Samsung are a Korean company and manufacture in Korea.
@AR Thailand, actually, but yes, that's my point. Not in China.
Can we trust Trump to stick to the deal? We know how he dumped a bipartisan immigration bill after claiming he would sign whatever they came up with. Tariffs were a very poor idea and should be a last ditch effort, not the first one. Americans lost 'bigly' on this one.
2
Oh yippee!
Does this mean Trump is finally going to un-botch the issue he singlehandedly botched? Will we ever get back the money he had to use for his farm bail-out? Or repair the damage he’s done to commerce globally? I guess any glimmer of sanity should be applauded... except following him down so many rabbit holes is just so exhausting!
2
So nothing really changed. China will still dominate manufacturing, rare earths and Ivanka’s swag. Trump will claim a victory to his cult and they will eat it up like rubes. Just in time for a merry Christmas.
3
"The Art of the Deal" :: Debunked
Create a problem.
Revel in claims of victimhood -- Unfair!
Crawl back on your knees to the starting point -- at best.
Claim victory -- having achieved nothing.
Mr. Trump is like an arsonist who returns to the scene of the fire, while taking credit for putting it out.
4
Hey I’m glad this trade war is going to end at least hopefully.
Based on other trade negoitations, I'll bet the whole agreement, if there is one will be windowdressing as both sides need to avoid further hits to their economies. Trump's scared now as well as one revelation after another forces him to have to pretend another victory,
That ugly 2 million fine against his phony trump foundation for its use as a campaign funder is another ugly self inflicted blow,
3
Every ninth grader who has read Steinbeck's The Pearl, knows the greedy doctor treated the baby with poison only to demand payment and congratulations for the antidote. All the answers to faustian bargains are are in literature- let's make America read again- or at least see the con--- every day one of these so called candidates should be shouting down the lies and sleight of hand in very specific terms- parables, stories, speeches, songs, slogans anything to go tweet to tweet.
3
Who out their feels confident of this "deal"? As far as I'm concerned, I have absolutely no trust in these 2 authoritarian guys. Trump is now agreeing to a deal which rolls back some of the problems he created in the first place. I guess he thinks it will have the optics of success, especially with his base. Nonsense! My opinion is that he will continue to fake everyone out with his deceptive "deals" and the only results will be synthesized "success" as we get closer to the 2020 elections. I hope people, especially his followers, are getting wiser to this egocentric maniacs' fake solutions to problems he creates, especially for folks in the mid-west and rural communities. These are all deceptions. This immoral person in the WH thinks this is a TV show where he controls all the props, scripts and personalities. When are his supporters going to see through him and his incompetent attempts at draining the swamp. He and his cronies are the swamp and it's time to flush them down the toilet.
It hardly comes as a surprise that a venal, corrupt intellectual midget like Trump would resort to this sort of cynical about face. The trade wars he finds so easily winnable are not, of course, but the shows he puts on for his base work are a triumph every time.
What else should we expect from the self-described, "greatest president ever!"?
Insider trading? The stock market is being played like a yo-yo.
2
How many Trump voters have significant investments in the stock market? Who will “enjoy?”
This President moves from self-induced crisis to self-induced crisis, just so that he pretend to ride in and fix the problem at the last second.
1
Everyone should know by now that Trump will stomp in at the 11th hour and declare "it's not enough" and throw the entire proposal on the floor and stomp on with his usual incoherant temper tantrum style.
I mean... why on earth would the most intractable person I have ever seen in public office.. change behavior now????
This is all a set up for another Donald Trump self promoting media performance and twitter fire.
1
So, there is a deal that says that if there is a deal, then there will be a deal to remove some (but not all) unspecified tariffs?
I guess I need a new dictionary, because the one I use defines "significant" differently than whatever the Times is using.
2
Trump is finding out the hard way that even phases are not easy to win.
So many Americans were stretched to the limit BEFORE these tariffs kicked in.
All this trade war did was cost Americans more money than they could afford to lose and had in their bank accounts and under their mattresses to begin with.
More people are worse off now than they were prior to this ridiculous debacle.
Exactly how did this help America again?
3
I'm sure the blue collar Democrats in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania that voted for Trump are just overjoyed and beside themselves with a sky rocketing stock market. I guess no one told them tariff rollbacks would be as useful for their economic security as the American Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. The former and latter puts nothing in their pockets.
1
One of the last cards Trump has to play is manipulating markets but that's a very dangerous game. He also seems to think that everyone has money invested in them but many people do not. Including his base voters.
Don't get too excited yet because this is about the third or fourth time vague announcements about solid progress have been made with zero details, nothing on paper and nothing accomplished. Business as usual for this administration.
73
@Lou Good
I will believe this when I see it. Trump or his team has announced the deal is just around the corner for a year and half. And if all he gets is mutual tariff reductions without major changes in the way China conducts their business then why did we go through all this loss of income and tax increases.
Trump keeps going with the bald face lie that the revenue from the tariffs comes from China. He did it again tonight at his rally. Every penny raised from the tariffs came out of the pockets of Americans. Every penny.He raised taxes on virtually every American. Yet Trump continues to lie to the people by telling them it comes from China. How to Trump supporters put up with theses lies?
4
@KJ Peters
I read the article again. Trump if he was honest, would have to brag about how he raised taxes on Americans by 38 billion.
1
As far as I'm concerned, all of this tariff backing and forthing is really only yet another device DT uses to keep his name in the headlines -- along with name-calling and other offensive behavior. And I'm even more bored by the tariff story than I am by the rest of it.
I can't see that the U.S. ever suffered from free trade and I can see how U.S. consumers stand to get stuck with higher prices if DT raises tariffs,which he will have to do if China calls his bluff. How can they do this? By raising tariffs on yet more U.S. exports --thereby hurting U.S. producers as well as consumers.
When will this charade ever end?
55
@Piri Halasz China is no friend of ours. If you think a Communist country aims to treat us fairly, you are mistaken. And I cannot see any impact of the tariffs on my family. Can you say you personally have suffered?
5
@Piri Halasz Trump can impose quotas as well as tariffs, slow down customs inspections to a crawl, and perhaps even require reexamination of patents issued to Chinese.
If you don't think the US ever suffered from " free trade" as practiced by the Chinese, just leave NYC and travel south or west and see the forlorn factory buildings.
3
@disillussioned1 There have been "forlorn factory buildings" since the 1950s, when US manufacturers first started deserting the unionized North for the non-unionized South, and the process has continued on since the 1970s, with lower-cost manufactured goods competing for U S markets not only from China but also from the rest of the Pacific Rim, the subcontinent of India, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Why single out China as the lone "offender"? Look at the labels in your clothing and your electronics (to name just two areas of low-cost overseas producers) and you'll find a veritable United Nations of countries. But through all this, the U.S. has remained prosperous and able to compete in international markets because it has developed new technologies and new products to export or sell at home. Slapping tariffs upon products that can be manufactured overseas more cheaply merely encourages U.S. manufacturers to slack off on innovation (of both products & processes) and convince themselves they can go back to the way things used to be in the 1950s -- which was fine for the '50s but hopelessly out-of-date for the 21st century--but then again, all of Trump's policies look backward and not forward. He is nostalgic for the "good old days" when the "good old boys" ran the show and the rest of the world tamely followed three leagues behind. Ain't gonna happen again, bro! Those days are gone.
4
What a surprise. As the election year swings into full gear, is anyone surprised by this? Act tough, convince workers how he is working so hard to bring back jobs when that just isn't happening, when those workers were hurt most by the tariffs.
But what about interest rates? Trump has been targeting the Fed to lower rates as a boost to the economy while he threw a wet towel on it. Again, not surprising that the Fed lowered interest rates three times. Now the stock markets are soaring again over the expected end to tariffs and the lower rates.
Any chance the First Family profits from this, or that any of the Cabinet members do? What a surprise.
137
My Chinese distributor for my products texted me when the news broke telling me about the good news bad news. Good news - maybe there is a deal. Bad news, they don't want to order anything for the foreseeable future because if it comes in now, it will be taxed, and they won't get that money back. So, we can't really do anything but critical business until we need when our products are specifically relieved of the tariffs. Fantastic win Mr. President, thanks for nothing.
7
Sounds like another example of Trump trying to claim credit for "kind of" resolving the crisis that he self-created, with no true advancement, all the while destroying America's trust and likability. Trump is just all facade, nothing at the core.
8
Kudos to you, President Trump !
You have addressed head on a lot of problems the United States (and other Countries too) had since a long time and no other President was ever willing to address.
You are acting on a lot of fronts with determination, passion and patience, the right mixture of what needed for success for your Country, even for people who are now blinded by their hatred for you.
Thanks, I love you !
1
@Mary
What, specifically, did Mr. Trump accomplish?
5
It will be interesting to see what the US gains in this deal. Or if the goal is to just get back to pre Trump tariff trade.
4
This is not a trade deal -- or even phase one of a trade deal. Rather, this is just a slight retreat by both sides in regard to the level of mutual tariffs.
What has Mr. Trump accomplished for the United States? Do we have increased protection for U.S. Intellectual Property? Is China lessening its military presence in the South Pacific? Has anything been accomplished?
At best, this is two steps backward, two step forward. In other words, a net gain of zero. And at what cost?
At worst, this is two steps backward, one step forward, a net loss for the United States.
Meanwhile, what will happen to the farmers in the Midwest. China has already found new markets from which to buy soybeans, including Brazil. They may never buy from U.S. farmers again. The damage is done.
Mr. Trump is like an arsonist who returns to the scene of the fire and tries to take credit for putting it out.
10
Considering Trump’s transactional way of dealing with countries, is anyone else wondering what personal, under-the-table favors China might be doing to help his 2020 re-election campaign?
And this is precisely how Trump lost U.S. credibility on a global scale in the Ukraine scandal. Now every ‘deal’ that sounds like ‘good news’ is suspect.
5
Am I missing something?
It sounds like the only concession Trump may get is the protection of intellectual property.
What happened to putting an end to stealing American technology, and stopping the manipulation of Chinese currency?
2
Glad to know that they have agreed that if they agree they will have an agreement!
6
There is no question Trump badly needs and wants a deal. The stock market and economy will rise and put Trump in a good place for reelection he knows this so a deal is assured.
1
Trump will claim this as a success. Meanwhile, Warren is proposing a plan that will raise the deficit massively or put the middle class on the hook for medical benefits for the rest of the country. This means four more years of Trump.
2
@Michael
Actually it means something for ALL Americans
No co pays
No ins premiums
More freedom
Less bankruptcies
So no yiu are wrong
Dead wrong
5
The initial trade deal of which this piece is subject - the putative "phase one" agreement which has yet to be completed - is the very same deal that Trump spent several days last month bragging about having completed, correct?
6
This article fails to adequately explain what the US will receive in this “one-step” deal.
If it is only a reduction of tariffs imposed on American goods because of Trump’s tariffs, then we have won nothing.
6
Reciprocity - is simple common sense.
One does wonder why China resists so strenuously the commitment to stop stealing American IP. Obviously, this is a more important issue to them than tariffs.
Also, more important to us.
2
@Kai China has NEVER resisted or failed to commit to IP protection. In fact this whole IP stealing thing from the beginning was more smearing than truth. That aside, China has devoted a large amount of efforts and energy in recent years to enact laws, courts, and regulations to protect IP. It even set up a new court for that.
What China resists, however, is America's push for unilateral monitoring and supervision. The US initially wanted to set up a supervisory body that monitors China's IP protection and impose unilateral tariffs if this American-led body decides that China does not meet its standards in IP protection. The US also demanded legislative change at the request of Americans.
Imagine China setting up a court-like body in the US, filled with Chinese "judges", deciding matters according to Chinese rules, and impose tariffs if China says the US has done something wrong. Or that China demands the US Congress to enact laws at the request of Chinese negotiators. Will the US ever agree to such things? I do not think so.
China has made it abundantly clear from the beginning that it has only three core demands and everything else can be negotiated. They are 1) rolling back tariffs if a deal is reached 2) independent industrial policy making and 3) reciprocity in agreement text.
From the Chinese point of view, the trade war has dragged so long purely because of unrealistic demands from the US negotiators.
5
@Bonan Xia
The reason for the demands from the American side is that China has already committed to stop stealing IP - years ago. It turns out that its officials lied... enforcement was close to nonexistent and Chinese companies (and state) merrily continued to blackmail Western companies and/or outright steal IP - sometimes with help of Chinese expats.
Given this history, you can hardly blame Navarro and Lighthizer for demanding better accountability.
I just returned from a two weeks trip to Beijing...all its major hotels are full of US, European and Russian business people, a Saudi delegation (presumably begging bowls in hand) peddling the Aramco IPO booked a cavernous conference hall and, not to be left behind, an Egyptian military procurement delegation had a whole hotel floor to itself.
China is asserting its business power.
7
So they’ve agreed to agree if an agreement can be reached. Very helpful.
8
So Trump may possibly do something to alleviate another crisis he initiated. How much did it all cost?
13
And what did it accomplish?
1
@Peter Aretin Excellent question. Ask our pork industry, and our soybean farmers. Many have gone out of business because of this arbitrary "trade war". An unnecessary waste for all involved.
Also, our IP, which has, for years, been the target of successful Chinese thieves, is still in great jeopardy.
Where are the protections for that?
1
Guess what! Shares will go up; Trump’s friends will get richer! There’s a pattern to everything he does. Who cares about ordinary people!
11
Has China agreed to buying US agricultural goods or is this business lost to Brazil and others? The effects of a trade war do not disappear with an agreement that may r may not hold water. The consequences of this potential resolution lie in the details which may be completely political meant to save Trump's bacon and not economic at all.
13
The only question of true relevance is, have we removed China’s power over us?
1
@Lilly
Nope.
1
Trump is caving, and the Chinese knew he would. In the nearly three years he has been in office, Trump has done nothing other than provide the wealthy and corporations with tax cuts, and the far right conservatives with judges. Other than that he has nothing going for him, and most importantly he isn’t winning any trade wars while many in his base are getting hurt. Throw in an impeachment on top of this, and we have a recipe for one desperate year ahead for Trump. The Chinese certainly see this.
16
@CC
You are right, of course, although I wish you wouldn't say "most importantly."
@CC Exactly
He needed something quick to try to change the subject because he is dropping in the polls of those mid-west states. It will be a crummy and rushed deal that he will try to pawn off as a win. The only winners will be the special interests who have been in on it.
The latest poll said that one third of working Americans say they are making less under Trump. The growth rate is a measly 1.9%. The majority of Americans want him impeached AND removed. New York State ordered him to repay the $2M he stole from the charity. The courts have said he has to turn over his tax records. The emoluments case can go forward. There is not one foot of wall, only some 30 year old design replacement fencing that is easily cut through. Illegals are crossing in droves. Barr wouldn't vouch for him in the Ukraine matter. It is all catching up with this buffoon and he sounds like Baghdad Bob with his ridiculous lie after ridiculous lie. Wait until they start throwing rotten produce at him.
2
The stock market will undoubtedly applaud with another boomlet. Then it will crash when the deal falls through. We’ve been hear before. Two snakes can dance but one always bites the other. It’s what they do.
4
@JFC
Long before he entered politics, Trump practiced "pump and dump" schemes which involved talking up the imaginary benefits of some project, then quickly selling that stock when it spiked. You'd think Wall Street would get wise eventually.
1
Trump’s only chance of holding Republicans on his side? “It’s the economy”!
He will try to repeat Bill Clinton’s survival tactic.
1
@Jean
Al Gore had a great economy to run on, but he barely won the election. Unfortunately, the Republican Supreme Court decided that votes don't really matter.
6
And besides having the American consumers pay the Trump the consumer tax (aka tariffs) what has been accomplished? So much winning.
12
In other words, and this time on a world scale, Trump causes a problem, then backs off, then claims it's the biggest victory since history has been written.
18
There was terror in the investment sector, and in some manufacturing in the US, that the Tariffs were going to tank the market and create ever more supply problems for some very big companies -- which meant problems for the GOP heading up to the 2020 election.
Bluff called.
Next move, Trump is planning on shutting down the government and blaming Democrats. That didn't go over well the last two times; he might get flak from the GOP regulars.
4
Trump used China to please his base. Now that he is in trouble with the Polls, he will lift Tariffs to raise 401ks and again please his base. Bottom line is nothing will have been changed, but Trump will proclaim Victory. Amazing how many people believe the lies. We need the honest Media to maintain our Constitution.
16
@Philip W
His base got no 401k poor base vs rich folks on the coastal who vote democrate so he actually doing the wrong thing
Maybe the reason why Trump is willing to roll back tariffs is the fact that the Chinese government has granted trademarks to his daughter's products that she was unable to obtain before he became President. As she is connected to the government as a "Senior Adviser" it makes me wonder why there is so much press regarding Hunter Biden's activities in the Ukraine. The focus on any future investigations of impropriety should be focused on Jared and Ivanka Kushner's foreign profits while acting as Senior Advisers to the current administration. "What promises did they make", we should all ask!
27
@Joe Lill You must admit, Ivanka's "senior advice" has certainly made a huge difference in our policies, both here, and abroad. Why, she.....
Sorry, I can't go on with this nonsense.
2
@Slann "Why she.......," what. Jared and Ivanka have profited from their positions as "senior advisers" while Trump has been President. Let's investigate!
Many Americans were stretched financially to the limit BEFORE these tariffs kicked in and prices began to increase.
Other than some farms, who else benefited by this action?
Trump supporters claim how successful these tariffs were, but so far, $28 billion has been given to farmers.
This farm aid rescue is more than twice as expensive as the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, which cost taxpayers $12 billion.
Don’t really see the “huge success” folks are clamoring about.
33
@Marge Keller Farmer buy-off. Farmers were beinning to question why they for for him. Now they're back in his camp.
No they aren’t.
1
@Marge Keller -- Uhmm, the big three auto makers paid back the government plus interest. Come on, let us get some facts here. Of course the farmers and Big Agri will not be paying back the bailout.
My question is since Trump took office, how much have tariffs on Chines goods increased — and then will this deal roll back tariffs to less than they were when he took office? If not, then it just seems that he solving a problem that he created. I don’t get it.
10
If previous annoucements are any indication, and previous Trump behavior definitely can predict, this means nothing at all, except in moving the markets (unless they have finally figured this out)
If and when any ‘deal’ is finalized, we either return to where we started, (with either sales losses during this period or permanent market share loss) or Trump can claim a false and minor ‘win’ whereby China, for instance, would ‘promise’ to buy, or even buy, something they would have done before this trade war started.
3
Considering the erratic and unpredictable nature of Trump, I'll believe this deal when I see it signed.
10
@c-c-g
Trump is on the stealth silent mode on trade deal cause he is too busy fixing the hole in the impeachment front.
1
A fundamental axiom of Capitalism is that business enterprises always seek the highest rate of return on their capital investments. In 2008, the US experienced the largest financial collapse since the Great depression. Since that time, the FED provided >$5 Trillion of ultra-cheap money to Wall St. for share buybacks, purchasing stock futures and sustain [still] insolvent banks. This money also inflated bond markets and trendy real estate in Boston, NYC, SF, Seattle, etc. As pointed out by James Petras- “China is re-allocating its economic wealth toward building the most extensive modern infrastructure system in history, linking four continents.…. The average factory in the US is twice as old as those in China.” (www.globalresearch.ca/china-saudi-arabia-and-the-us-shake-up-and-shake-down/5621487). To move production back to the US will require large investments in new plants, equipment, machine tools, etc. and training more scientists, engineers and production workers to be competitive with those in China and other countries with state- of-the-art manufacturing infrastructure. The return on these investments is measured in years - decades vs near instant returns when companies engage in share buybacks, many times using borrowed money. Since CEO compensation is typically based on share price, how many CEOs are going to invest massive amounts of capital in new manufacturing facilities whose financial return is dubious at best? The US will not ‘win’ a trade war.
18
I share this view. the supply chain being what it is nowadays, a production unit can hardly operate out of a complex ecosystem of suppliers and purveyors of all kinds, making a relocation yet more hazardous.
2
@Paul
There were some reports ( and I haven;t dug deeply for more info) that there were some relocations - - to Vietnam.
2
This is news that there might be news. I know the stock market revels in this kind of non-news, but why? It's all speculation.
Oh yeah, that's the market.
But what I think this really means is that China has agreed to conduct the investigations that Trump has had his pseudo-ambassador Giulliani pressing China on.
8
When the fine print comes out, we'll likely see that tariff rollbacks are aimed at helping Trumpist states like Nebraska and Indiana, while hurting blue states like New York and California that Trump hates. This is because Trump will gladly surrender to the Chinese if surrendering hurts blue states. Owners of intellectual property (who are mostly in states like NY and CA) had better watch their backs, because China will continue to steal their stuff.
12
Bad week on the impeachment front so it's time to distract the public by appearing to solve a problem he created in the first place. These weak attempts at changing the narrative have all the subtly, wit and imagination of an Ed Wood movie.
9
So the great news for the economy is the faint possibility of taking a step closer back to where we were before Trump imposed tariffs to begin with?
You don't get credit for untying a knot that you initially tied yourself.
7
And I promise to fill up my car's gas tank IF the needle is on empty. So what?
4
Great. We're back where we were 6 months ago.... but with less money due to the damage this six months of "panem et circenses" trading policy brought down to our stock market...
8
Don’t forget he breaks stuff so he can then get credit for fixing stuff.
6
China's not going to give too much when there's blood in the water with Trump's weaknesses showing.
7
Fully expect this agreement to be reached just in time for the 2020 election. I can already envision the commercials. Definitely classic Trump work, take a stable relationship, trash it, and then claim that the "Stable Genius" saved the American worker, just like he did with NAFTA.
5
Xi has him over the barrel. I am sure that Xi is telling his aides that trade wars are easy to win if you have a fool as your opponent. Within the next year Trump must ensure that the trade war doesn't sink the already weak economic growth. Guess who can and who cannot afford to hold out for a better deal.
9
So we're part of the way back to where we started?
6
This was expected
As Peter Drucker predicted in 2001, free trade in manufactured goods would disappear, for the some reason free trade in agricultural goods disappeared in the 1920's and was replaced with system of bilateral treaties.
For those who want to learn more, read
https://www.economist.com/special-report/2001/11/03/the-next-society
1
@Woof Thank you. Among Drucker's excellent points (describing the next society), one stood out to me:
•Upward mobility, available to everyone through easily acquired formal education.
Glaringly, the U.S. is FAILING, noticeably, in this regard.
Student test scores are dropping, our "Secretary of Education", DeVos, is working hard to keep students in debt (or face criminal penalties!), instead of assisting them, and we see wholesale corruption in our college admissions process, nation wide. We need a new "team" installed to bolster our public education system. It's inexcusable education is facing underfunding (thanks again, DeVos) at this crucial time. Working 2 jobs to barely survive is no one's "dream".
2
Yes but which businesses and which consumers will get relief and why from this Chinese American tariff scam/scheme?
And what impact does this have on whatever profitable Trump Organization benefits are being hidden from the American people arising from Donald Trump's occupation of the Oval Office of the White House?
Russia if you are listening can you please let the American people know? North Korea? Iran? Cuba?
4
Anything to get trump out of the trade war. Another retreat by our genius General.
3
Hard to feel optimistic, here. Trump (and the U.S.) comes away weaker from every confrontation he fabricates with his ignorant bluster.
If in addition to lowering tariffs China also stops manipulating its currency and stops stealing our intellectual property, I'll feel like this trade war was worth something.
"We'll see, said the Zen Master..."
2
Probably the biggest Trump victory on the economic front in history..... whether my liberal friends like it or not ...peace and prosperity for all.
@Obummer If we're winning so much on the economic front, why has the Fed had to reduce interest rates three times since last July to help prop up the economy?
1
All will be forgotten. Xi Jimping is a "good guy".
He is acceding to all America's trade terms. That is why I am canceling trade tariffs.
Great deal; We will then of course never just go back to square one or otherwise raise the white flag...
If I say so, then it is true.
2
Did China surrender or did the US surrender in this undeclared trade war?
1
This means NOTHING until we see if there actually IS a “deal” and, if so, what specifically are the terms. Have we come out ahead or just endured Trump’s feckless blustering and lies for nothing? Our TRADE DEFICIT, about which Trump lies every day, has INCREASED by about $250,000,000 since this nonsense began. Tariffs have done nothing to change that but AMERICANS have paid billions because of them. We are now subsidizing our farmers with BILLIONS as well - billions that YOU and I are paying. You don’t hear Trump say that, do you?
Of The Dotard has nothing factually positive to say, which is almost always, he just makes stuff up. He lies to you and you believe him! ONCE I can understand from those outside of NYC - you didn’t care enough to vet him, but ten thousand times is unforgivable. You will refuse to see truth until your country fails and you are forced to learn Russian and Chinese - and rich Republicans will continue to eat cake while the average hard-working American starves.
There will be no bail out; you had your chance and you blew it. Don’t do it again in 2020.
7
This is just Trump toying with Wall Street speculators again, something he's done before, and something no previous President has ever contemplated doing.
Wall St happy, US farmers, manufacturers, small businesses still eating dust and promises and their future dissolves, thanks to Mr. Greatest Deal.
The news here? Trump may be preparing to cut some face saving paper deal with China while the trade war continues, to try and look better politically.
But like every other international negotiation he's attempted - from NATO to North Korea to Syria - America is still the loser.
111
@Neander Toying? I can't wait until it comes out that Trump's people have been feeding information about tariff announcements to selected investors, who play the swings for major profit.
28
@Neander
Exceptional comment.
I agree 100%
5
@Neander
Exceptional comment.
1000% in agreement.
6
If a deal is struck to consider striking a deal, then it may be possible to consider thinking about negotiating on tariffs.
2
FBI must investigate if there is any collusion with China with tariffs and timing of the rollback.
If trade deal is signed, can he still claim to MAGA ?
3
So another quid pro quo. If the US does something then China will do something. If an agreement is reached it will, of course, benefit Trump’s re-election probability.
4
@John Bowman
Maybe not completely. A lot of damage has already been done. There are already losses that will never be recovered. Those who have managed to hold out until now should consider themselves lucky.
Of course Donnie Darko wants this to happen before the holidays, otherwise he looks very bad.
Meanwhile, the game continuing game of chicken between US and China goes on.
3
Trump's over-emphasis on the stock market is creating a whole new kind of bubble. We should seek some enforceable agreement with China over intellectual property rights but Trump seems to be caving on that as his tariffs come under increasing criticism.
2
Let me guess - Donald Trump, as always, will get exactly NOTHING as a result of his infliction of massive financial hardship on the American people. The best part? None of it affected Donald Trump in the slightest!
8
Mr. Trump deserves a standing ovation for standing up to China, whose reaction demonstrates that it only understands force and economic sanctions. I hope the Trump administration makes zero concessions, and I would not be at all disappointed if the tariffs remained in place, as I stopped purchasing Chinese made products more than a year and a half ago. The Chinese government needs to be brought to its knees, and taught a very harsh lesson. There is no reason on earth why the United States should tolerate China’s theft of our intellectual property.
Next, pressure needs to be applied on Apple CEO Tim Cook to start paying taxes on money that he has stashed in offshore bank accounts, and to pull his operations out of China completely, so that Americans can have those jobs. Enough is enough.
17
@David H Couldn't agree more. Both Democrat and Republican sellouts catered to China while only Trump has stood up to them in favor of the American worker. That is why he has my vote.
8
@Iconoclast Texan
I agree that we needed to get China to change. However, I don't think this deal will make anything more than minor cosmetic changes (just like his NAFTA2 agreement). Furthermore, in the long run it will hurt American workers if big companies decide to cut US out of their supply chains (because they cannot trust that it will provide a stable trade platform where agreements are honored). The US market is small compared to the rest of the world - so if they have to choose between the two it won't be US.
5
@David H
Then I assume you will not be buying any Trump merchandise.
How sure are you that you are not buying products from China? Even products made here have materials and parts made in China. How far is the extent of your purity purchasing?
4
The longer the Chinese wait the better the deal they will get. The President under impeachment is increasingly defensive and grabbing at anything to distract the electorate from his self inflicted wounds. He’ll give up and claim a victory.
16
No mention in the story about the thousands of US manufacturing jobs coming back home from China as a result of Trump’s get-tough trade policy.
Probably just an editorial oversight, one supposes.
16
@Ralph Averill
No really. Such a pipe dream. They will just automate and go to robotics. It has already happened.
Ok, then why don’t you mention a few. Please, enlighten us.
What jobs are you talking about?
Perhaps this development signals the ramp down of the "Insider Tariff" scam.
2
If Trump does sign this deal, it is a loss for the US. He might have extracted some concessions, but with China there are no guarantees that it will honor this deal as it did not honor any of the promises it made our previous presidents.
What happened to the earlier requirements which would codify into Chinese law intellectual property protections including the end of IP theft and forced technology transfers, along with the end of state funded companies? It looks like we lost this phase of this trade war.
It looks like Trumps desire to win a second terms trumps his desire to win the trade war.
7
Trump's number one problem today is that with their strategic press releases the Chinese heavily influence our stock markets. They have very slowly and strategically increased their demands in a way that has allowed our markets to go up in one or 2% increases helped latey by Larry Kudlow giving unofficial interviews saying the restrictions on Hauwei are going to be lifted.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have built a Tesla factory in seven months that is on the cusp of turning out a thousand model 3s a week and the operation is 100% controlled and owned by Tesla. The Chinese are also building out an infrastructure of charging stations across the country to support electric vehicles.
Huawei is now the number two smart phone provider behind Samsung and ahead of Apple. It is expanding at 20% even with the disadvantage of using its own operating system on it's latest phone and doing without the American chips that are administration has restricted. And if Larry Kudlow knows what he's talking about those restrictions are about to be removed.
Procter & Gamble has had a yearly increase in China sales of 13% versus 7% US. Starbucks is rapidly expanding in China, as is Coke and Costco.
Throughout this process the Chinese are perfect diplomats and never criticize Trump.
7
So in other words, the best news for the markets is that we might not do what the President has been saying we will do, after he has already done it.
12
Tariffs impose a tax on the consumers of the country that issues it. Imports become more expensive. It is just that simple. We've been at this for 19 months, and have little to show for it.
7
@Dave
If that is the case then why is China so eager to help US consumers? Your theory that the tariffs only hurt US Consumers is wrong, it hurts China more as companies will move their manufacturing elsewhere to avoid paying tariffs and passing them onto consumers
3
It hurts both, which is why tariffs are a bad idea.
1
@John
There is nothing America sells that China can't buy elsewhere.
Another headline. Another nothing. So far this morning (2:30 pm eastern time) the trading volume of the S&P 500 index of U.S. stocks was below the average volume of the past 10 days. The market may be up but most seasoned investors are NOT buying the headline. Most are sitting on their hands. Like the Chinese are waiting for Trump to be tossed out of office. There's not going to be any deal of any note before next November because the Chinese DON'T want Trump in office. So can the domestic U.S. consumer keep holding up the economy by him/herself without U.S. businesses joining them to spend money on capital improvements and building inventories? Well guess what-- they're not. They don't believe the Chinese will make a deal with ANY of Trump's stated goals satisfied. And given Trump's blustery record in this negotiation-going-nowhere, why should they? Were I Chinese I'd be wanting the start of a U.S. recession BEFORE next November. And the way to make that happen is to stall and dissemble and promise and renig. And that is the truth of exactly what the Chinese are doing today.
8
@Civilized Man You may well be right, but another distinct possibility is that a deal will be made. That it will be a deal that is overwhelmingly in China’s favor is a given. But Trump, given his domestic political difficulties, is desperate for a “win” and is confident enough in the complete absence of critical thinking or intelligent inquiry of close to half the population to know that he can sell whatever agreement is signed as a “win”. Trump is desperate and in a very precarious position. Perfect for the Chinese to exploit.
16
China needs to roll back their tariffs on American farm products (most notably pork, but also soy beans) to keep their people fed and happy. If they rollback their farm tariffs and get nothing in return, they lose face. So China wants to make a deal where they get food without tariffs, without giving up anything meaningful in return. They'll come to an agreement.
If you were a world power competing with the U.S. for influence and power, wouldn't you do everything possible to try to assure the re-election of Trump?
In the Great Game, what's bad for us is good for them.
4
@alan haigh The very reason they would play hardball with Trump. They know he is desperate for any deal, and that they can hold out for one highly favorable to them.
Trump might very well just give it to them, as he will crow to his base the fact of the concluded trade deal and be able to lie to them regarding which way it is lopsided. He'll call it a 'win' no matter what it does.
3
What did we achieve with the trade war, at the cost of years of American hardship and a global slowdown?
The goals have been changed from "winning the trade war" to "having less trade war";
from "protecting American intellectual property" to "protecting America from Trump's trade war'; and
from "trade wars are easy to win" to "let's try to get back to where we were before the war started".
All we've accomplished in all this time for all these billions is to lower our hopes and let Trump collect from all the lobbyists standing in line for relief from tariffs.
11
Who wants to bet trump is rushing a disastrous deal hoping any news (even bad) is enough to distract from the testimony of several individuals who corroborate a quid pro quo where he embezzled nearly $400 million to pay for dirt to use against people on his enemies list?
6
Good timing to help boost economic confidence for the upcoming election. Our national interest must be the driving factor here to suddenly be more open to dialogue now.
This is good news.
America won the trade-war and now it's time 4 it 2 end.
BUT, nobody outside of D.C. really cares about ukraine, whistleblower, impeachment-charade, or all the arguments going on between the d's and the r's.
America wants it's elected leaders 2 get along w/ each other and deliver a $1TT infrastructure-bill, increase 1st-time home-ownership, cancel all student-loans (doesn't impact me directly, I paid off all my student-loans in the 90's) and lead our nation so that it works for ALL U.S. citizens.
America, despite the headlines, has done incredibly well over the last 3-years, primarily due to the President's policies and leadership. He deserves so much more credit than he gets.
Opioid-epidemic lessened, isis defeated, no new wars, better care for Vets, dereg, employment - stox - household-wealth at all time highs, tax-rates lowered, military strengthened, criminal justice reform passed, illegal-immigration reduced, AND the nation saved from democratic-socialism.
All of these and many more great achievements are the result of the President and his leadership and policies.
The d's haven't offered much cooperation nor many good real-world policy since the election.
America is only 5% of the global-population, yet we enjoy approx 20% of global-GDP. There may come a day when we're forced to get along with each other for the sake of survival on a global-scale. Best if we learn 2 do so NOW, so we don't squander our future.
5
@Fortitudine Vincimus.
What most literate and intelligent leaders care about, in and outside DC, in addition to Trump's corruption and the necessity for impeaching him, is that commenters know the difference between it's and its, which you do not. Truly Trump loves the undecuated.
2
Won what? The opportunity to fork over billions to farmers?
1
@Fortitudine Vincimus. I suggest you really take a long hard look at tariff wars, including those we supposedly won, This one and its foolish application was hardly a win for the US, and certainly set the stage for China to push much more aggressively toward other markets which they will develop.
1
I'm probably looking at this too simplistically: aren't we just going slowly back to positions we had before the "easy to win" trade war started? Exports this year have dropped over last year, right?
70
@VM
Right. You are obviously not a Trump voter.
Just took a look at the soybean markets. The site had the perfect headline for trading in the Trump era.
"Buy the rumor, sell the fact."
7
@R Ho
Yes, I notice that the soybean market closed up 8-9 cents and the corn down 3-4 cents. Not a real confirmation of the traders belief in any great demand from China. More like the realization that you can't trust anything coming out of Trump's mouth - all just smoke and mirrors.
Also, all the ag products still in storage plus a huge crop still looking for a home on this side of the world does not look good for future hopes of better prices. China has "found new trading partners in Canada, Brazil, Australia,etc who are very happy to sign long term agreements with China that will undermine any hopes for higher commodity prices in the USA. This huge surplus will get bigger and pressure corn and bean prices for the next few years. All thanks to the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
5
Yes, Brazil is burning down rainforests so that more soybeans can be grown. They have been doing this for over a decade. Australia is providing pork because of widespread diseased pigs in China. But American farmers are switching to a much higher value product by growing marijuana instead of soybeans.
Peter Drucker, 2001, the founder of management theory, on why free trade in manufactured goods would be replaced by negotiated mutual treaties, as trade in agricultural products has been since the 1920
"The new protectionism"
"The decline of farming as a producer of wealth and of livelihoods has allowed farm protectionism to spread to a degree that would have been unthinkable before the second world war. In the same way, the decline of manufacturing will trigger an explosion of manufacturing protectionism—even as lip service continues to be paid to free trade. This protectionism may not necessarily take the form of traditional tariffs, but of subsidies, quotas and regulations of all kinds. "
The Economist The Next Society 2001
Drucker was right .
But then again, to quote from the Economist
" After a lecture by John Maynard Keynes, always the systematiser, Vienna-born Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management theory, saw the distinction in clear relief: “I suddenly realised that Keynes and all the brilliant economic students in the room were interested in the behaviour of commodities, while I was interested in the behaviour of people.”
The Economist Dec 24th 2016
3
China and Trump are rushing before impeachment proceedings. Deal will not be recognized if he is impeached.
4
@Ralph Petrillo
Any deal will be renegotiated when Putin's boy is removed, either by the Senate or the people.
so... will Trump also take credit for all the stock market losses in the past months resulting from his trading policy?
20
@citizen - The Stock Market is up year over year and it is up since Trumps inauguration.
4
@Mkm
There's a vast gulf between what the stock market represents and what our economy represents. Trump doesn't know the difference; I'm hoping you do.
5
@Mkm how exactly does that translate to the amount of money on your paycheck?
1
So Trump wins again. Finally we have someone standing up to China and for the American workers.
4
...again? That means Trump has had victories in the past. North Korea? Nope. Syria? Nope. The Wall? Nope. Improved health care? Nope. Infrastructure? Nope. Ratified Trade Deals? Nope. Numerous legislative victories? Nope. Numerous judgements in his favor? Nope. Deficit reduction? Nope. Debt reduction? Nope. Reduction in gun violence? Nope.
68
@Jon Galt Nothing has happened... It's talk, a report, conjecture, speculation and until a deal is done meaningless.
2
@Jon Galt Um. If Trump was standing up when he slapped on tariffs, then he's standing down by removing them in exchange for nothing.
6
Why would the stock market soar based on removing tariffs on "some" (read that as unspecified or secret) goods. Does someone have a crystal ball? Or is someone tracking sudden unusual investments by Trump associates?
29
@Angelsea
Free money pump courtesy of 120 billion a month federal reserve printing
@Angelsea -- The market did not soar. Today's change was an increase of 0.66% which is 2/3 of 1%. That is a normal fluctuation.
This was Trump's artificially-manufactured crisis for which American consumers are paying.
Fortunately, for the 1%, there are plenty of stock options when these well-staged economic "crises" occur.
43
At this point in time, this announcement falls into the category of aspirational. However, farmers continue to suffer the consequences of this folly with no end in sight. The $88 B in net farm income for 2019 includes $19 B in Federal subsidies, one of the highest proportions since 2000 ($23 B) and 2005 ($24 B).
https://www.fb.org/market-intel/is-farm-income-really-up
I hope these tariffs end soon and that this isn't just another cruel hoax. But until then, it seems the only winners in this sorry saga are the Wall Street traders. Then again, that's probably the only constituency that matters to this president anyway.
22
America's enemies coming to trump's aid to give him more bragging points for his base and re-election. It's in our enemies' best interests to keep trump in the presidency to further weaken our standing in the world. This "deal" will last until November 2020.
20
Looking at this phase of the negotiations from the Chinese perspective, it's clear to see the penultimate losers in this adventure in Trump's Circus of Chaos are the American public (consumers), American manufacturing firms, and the world. Trump will claim a "victory" standing on that heap of ashes with Wilbur Ross, Peter Navarro ("Ron Vara"), and Robert Lighthizer.
What exactly happened over the past 3 years anyhow?
Nothing, except millions of Americans paid a financial price that essentially brought the United States in a full circle to where we started in January, 2017. More "managerial brilliance" from Donald trump, the "smartest person in the room". (Horse puckey!) Furthermore, the Chinse know trump is a wounded political leader and they have NO reason to accelerate the negotiations towards a finalization - all could change in 1 year. So, China will say yes, but really mean, "not really".
29
Rollback tariff in exchange for buying American Agri goods was the situation before the trade war. Donald took 3 steps forward and 3 steps backward to the same place, so he can do his victory dance in front of his supporters to make America Great Again.
35
“The so-called “phase one” agreement has not yet been finalized and the exact terms are still under discussion”
Good Grief, the trade/tariff war was initiated by Trump….did he forget about his comment”trade wars are good and easy to win” (March 2018). What does he have to show for it…….higher consumer prices, businesses getting hurt and farmers (which may have or may not have supported Trump) are feeling the effects. As far as those companies doing business in China and having their proprietary information at risk, companies were more than aware that the risks were there and still decided to choose profit/ greed over the security and well being of their businesses.
26
Why doesn't Trump just start saying that the trade deal is finished and we got everything we wanted. Just like he says we're close to finishing the wall. His base will believe him.
14
So, just to be clear: if they arrive at some sort of trade deal, there will be terms relating to the biggest single government influence on trade between the two nations? No kidding. How is this news? What kind of possible trade deal would someone imagine that *wouldn't* involve rolling back "a portion of the tariffs".
I wonder how much money Trump and his friends make in the stock market, every time they sell high after goosing prices by announcing some fictional verbal agreement that never materializes, then buy low after people realize it was just another nothingburger and prices fall again...
72
The Chinese like most of the world know they are negotiating with a severely wounded president who may do anything to get a political win.
China is called the 1000 year empire that plans decades in advance.
Why would they negotiate in good faith with somebody who may just have months in office?
62
@Sam
The Chinese government is incredibly smarter than Trump and his ignorant base. I am sick to death of uneducated, ignorant Americans who have the right to vote. Not only us, the the world, are impacted by their stupidity. I know we want to be politically correct and say 'all are equal.' But they are not and they have damaged our democracy beyond belief with their president. Sorry. I never thought i would reach this place in life. but uneducated people shouldn't be allowed to dominate our democracy. We are now seeing the damage of it.
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the sad truth is that prices will not go down for consumers. retailers will simply keep the present inflated prices. trump has messed things up and it's going take a long, long time (if ever) for the world to get back to normal.
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Once again, the Trump administration fixes a problem of its own making.
Wait a minute... Once again, the Trump administration only PARTIALLY fixes a problem of its own making.
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@CC Once again there is a prediction that there might be a partial repair of a problem of Trump's own making.
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"But the Trump administration has committed to rolling back tariffs if an agreement is reached, according to people familiar with the negotiations."
That's a large "if" - having the malodorous whiff of familiarity. There's Mr. Trump's pesky predilection to add more punitive grief to Americans when he's miffed his genius tariffs aren't doing much but mucking up Americans -- so he adds more tariffs. 'He'll show THEM!' And so it goes.
'
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And thus Trump has finally figured out that there is no longer a US, go it alone, economy. Those days vanished 40 years ago. Those $20 - $30/hr factory jobs are gone too. As are those $20 - $30/hr mining and steel mill jobs. US Corporations sent these jobs off shore years ago. But, fro some reason Trump thought imposing tariffs would bring these jobs back. Nope. Those tax cuts, to corporations, when to stock holders, corporate execs and to off shore accounts. Not to restarting factories and hiring idled blue collar workers.
What he still hasn't gotten is that this is a world economy, and it is integrated. All the tariffs did was weaken the US and world economy. And, the farmers, corporations Wall Street, bankers, corporate exec, et. al. have turned on Trump. And, Trump's base is turning on him too.
So, Trump has found political way out of painting himself in a corner; as did China. Starting to dump the tariffs.
Trump's hope that the US economy gets hot again, and he can claim some kind of political victory. Another one of his diversions from the ever increasing scandals of his administration. Even that means throwing his base under the bus.
If Tuesday's election has any indication, next years election is going to be bad fro Trump, his party and his minders. But, at least Wall Street and corporations can rake in the profits again from cheap Chinese labor.
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I find the timing of this turn-about in attitude suspect.
Funny how China and the US agreed to roll back a portion of the tariffs which had been placed on each other's products during the most crucial time period where Trump seems to be more vulnerable than ever with impeachment rumblings being heard in the White House attic.
Because of this news, the "S&P 500 was up more than half a percentage point, putting i on track to hit a record closing high."
Sure seems as if Trump is playing with the economy so his ratings will rise as quickly and high as Wall Street markets.
Every move he makes is for HIS benefit FIRST and then perhaps for the country, if things work out in the end.
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@Marge Keller
there is no signs yet that Trump actually supports the proposed agreement.
We have been here before.. and he always comes out at the end and sets fire to whatever agreement is proposed between the two nations.
Timing just depends on when/how his China hawks on the negotiation team get to him last and convince him it's a bad deal.
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@Chuck
Good point Chuck.
But the fact the Wall Street reacted favorably only adds to his hollow "win" columns.
More harm than good was felt by this tariff war with China.
Trump is like a football, never sure which way or where he will bounce.
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So, what did we gain by the tariffs in the first place? I mean I know they’re really easy and we were winning and everything, but is anything different today than it was before we had the tariffs in the first place?
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Good news. It's about time. Before everyone celebrate the Holiday season. Who made Trump changed his mind? Voters?
2
We just keep on winning! No wall, NAFTA Redux, China Tariff Capitulation, Iran rejuvenating nuclear capabilities, Turkey and Russia sew up Syria, ISIS restart, Kurd Alliance destroyed, official exit Paris Climate Agreement, etc.
Oh, and the world despises us, both friend and foe alike.
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@cherrylog754 So now maybe those MAGA hats will come down in price, along with the 'Read the Transcript' T-shirts./s
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@cherrylog754
And North Korea is still testing stuff.
@cherrylog754
Hecckkuvajob Donnie
One word: deflecting
8
More greatness from the smoke and mirrors presidency !
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So maybe, just maybe, we'll get partway back to the way things were before. Then Trump will expect us to be grateful to him for having defused the crisis that he himself caused.
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@T he'll expect us to thank him for the billions on farm bailout too.
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Another one of President Trump's signature "wins" - create a problem, then try to remedy to some small degree and claim great success and progress.
Mr. Trump was right about two things: first, he could indeed shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his supporters would still back him, and second, we are all tired of so much "winning."
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@jrinsc
I thought he said whining - that we would be tired of all the whining. And I am so tired of his whining about everything.
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After over 100 billion in tariffs collected from US businesses and consumers, 28 billion in subsidies payed out of taxes to some farmers including big agriculture, we are going to see some return to normalcy but with fewer markets and less trust of America by foreign countries. Not sure how that is a win for US citizenry.
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@John Storvick
There is no normalcy.. Things keep changing all of the time. Chose your normalcy. I am not unhappy with the normalcy of the 1950s-- the dark ages... when there was much less inequality -- everyone had less and we grew out own food and made our own stuff.
The present normalcy doesn't please me one bit... and if others get bit they won't like it so much either.
1
The other day I starred a fire in my garage.
Then I fought valiantly to prevent it from spreading to the rest of my house.
My Trumper neighbors cheered my wonderful accomplishment.
The End.
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@Yuri Vizitei
I've heard similar and appropriate comparisons.
Trump is holding the lighter and gas can and then expects to be congratulated when he calls the fire department.
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@Yuri Vizitei
Brilliant :-)
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@Yuri Vizitei
I don't get this message at all. I guess my doctorate didn't prepare me for this analogy. do you want to translate it?
I've wondered all day why he keeps tweeting about the best economy we have ever had all morning. Both countries removing the tariffs that they put into place sounds about right.
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