It appears that the "bottom" 75% or so will have enough $$ from their lower tax rates to pay for the increase in prices caused by this blossoming trade war.
3
Hope those Iowa farmers are wearing their MAGA hats with pride today.
9
Don't worry. Their labor cost is rapidly increasing and in less than 10 years, China will have lost its merit of cheap manufacturing for all kinds of goods, exactly as Japan did in 70's and 80's. The difference is its importance as a consumer market, which will be (or already is) dozens of times bigger than Japan. Knowing this, noting needs to be done for the current trade deficit for, say, smartphones; using energy for short-term deals look ridiculous to me.
2
Seems like the Chinese are going after products made in the red states. Sorry to say this, but I feel a little glee that the people who gave us Trump are being punished for their folly. The rest of us have suffered from the pretend president's lies, hubris and general ignorance for a long time now.
16
The delight many commenters appear to have for potentially tough times for people in ‘red’ states is really repugnant. We are all Americans. It’s ethically and morally wrong to wish someone ill because they voted differently than you did. I don’t always agree with what this or any other administration does, but I do want our government to be successful because it affects all of us.
4
Well, the new government is not successful. Therefore it’s only just that the red state citizens bear the brunt of it.
7
To be fair, I’ve been listening to people who voted Trump tell me I lost for more than a year now. So, the right already knew that Trump was bad for the US as a whole. I’m just now happy they will see how bad it is, and help us vote him out.
5
As well as new products being traded, China has been buying America's garbage for decades. But no more. America will now drown in debt...and garbage.
9
And yet many of America's behemoth companies,notably Apple and Nike still have their products made ( or as they would have it, assembled) in China.
5
We forget that Richard Nixon went to China and not the other way around. What was his purpose?
To find cheap labor for American businesses and open up a world of new consumers.
Mission accomplished! What could have goes wrong with his purpose?
6
Nothing at all. But Richard Nixon, for all his shortcomings was not a populist malignant narcissist ripping society apart for petty political gain, like the current POTUS. Nor did he engage in Nuclear adventurism..And, Nixon was a highly educated man.
3
There was a way to contain China properly. It was called the Trans-Pacific Partnership and would have united all Pacific Rim markets against China so we would have real leverage against them. But Trump decided to back out of it (supported by naive Bernie backers) and now China is creating its own version without the US. We have lost the leverage we once had and still need to redress years of trade abuse from China.
19
EPA's Scott Pruitt is frantically rolling back environmental restrictions on gas-guzzling, polluting, american automobiles. Guess they will only be sold in the U.S. Most modern industrial countries plan to phase out internal combustion engines within 10/20 years, and go with EVs. Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, and others are working on schemes to provide FREE urban public transportation to keep pollution, noise and traffic congestion down. So, after that $80 Billion taxpayer bailout, did GM, Chrysler and Ford
learn anything?
4
My neighbor farmers who voted for Trump are starting to have buyers remorse. It will only get worse.
16
Raise pigs? Still think Trump was the answer?
9
Good for them. No one likes a bully.
8
Well, if a trade war is going to tank the economy, let the Chinese selectively place tariffs on red state products. Trump voters will support a disgusting, despicable president - until it hits their own bottom line.
22
Break out the food boxes for Trump's base!
4
Time for Trump to add another 500 items to the tariff and close the LA harbor to Chinese imports. Europe might just join in.
I'm sure we can hold out longer than China.
I hate Trump, but he's right on this one. But he needs to go all in.
8
China has had barriers in their market to US products for a long time.
Why can't the US simply match those for Chinese imports to US markets?
Regarding the theft of industrial secrets and intellectual property, Trump maybe should invest in more US Intelligence assets, come up with many many specific examples, and tariff only the specific products from china made with the stolen technology. I realize this would require Trump to deal with specific facts, but it seems more transparent and rational to the citizens of both countries.
11
Fewer dead pigs, good. More Trump, bad.
14
Where is the US military going to get their rare earth minerals if China blocks its export?
11
There are a lot of rare minerals in Afghanistan and South Africa...and foreign policy is shaped toward acquiring them.
3
Maybe they can open some of the formerly non-economic mines in Nevada and Utah that they shut down when China could supply the metals for less. There are probably lots of places to get these metals, why the US allowed their own mines to be shut down is beyond me.
5
So? It's about time someone took on China. Trump may be paranoid/crazy but even a paranoid/crazy person can be right sometimes. Maybe Trump is just the crazy nut we need to go after China.
7
Man, I am tired of all this winning.
13
Hey NY Times...You need to clarify that the tariffs are IN ADDITION to the tariff amounts that they already charge. For example the existing tariff on wine is a crazy 48.2%. Now (+15%) it is going to become 63.2%. This is why America is hurt.
btw..Wine imported from China to the USA pays practically nothing.
16
NYT it would be great if you could report better on this.
Thank you.
5
The pork producers should consider a move to selling less pork, but better raised albeit costing more...cut production a large % but increasing the price conversely...it doesn't need to be cheapest meat on the market...people can enjoy a better product, just less often...It will much more humane and ecologically sound. They could even focus on the upscale market
12
Who knew Trump would not get FOX like support from China in a trade war....more fake news.
2
China has for the longest time dumped their goods onto the American as well as the European markets and China is not alone, the Asian markets, with their cheap labor and cheap material, managed to drive several companies out of business that way and then raise the price of their products.
I was listening to a broadcast the other day where a rubber bank manufacturer explained in details how China was undercutting prices for rubber bands and already drove several manufacturers out of business.
On the other hand though, a friend of mine is a Union guy and he got a job at a construction site to operate the elevator AT $45.00 an hour!! Come on....
And then there is the Medical billing world, you want to know why America is so messed up? Due to the wonderful rising of the health insurance, my wife and I could no longer afford to get health insurance: Too rich to be poor, too poor to be rich so we are cash paying folks. I pay for a urine test $ 88.00 to $ 150.00 (depends which lab they sent it) but someone at my doctor's billing department sent it through the last Health Insurance who then send me a refusal of payment because I'm no longer covered. Guess how much they billed the Insurance Company for that $88.00 to $ 150.00 urine test??
How about: $ 2,200.00. And you wonder why we are so divided, frustrated, out-of-our-minds angry.
17
If the east has driven American companies out of business it is a result of market forces. I thought that republicans loved winners and losers to be settled in the marketplace???
3
This reporting is silent about China's investment in US hog operations. Armour, Smithfield, Gwaltney, Eckrich, John Morrell and Farmland are brands owned by WH Group, formerly Shuanghui International. The operations of those brands are overseen by a company staffed apparently by Chinese nationals.
Will WH Group have to pay the tariff on pork? How will that affect its bottom line? Does China have any ability to waive the tariff on select US producers, like those owned by WH Group? Will the Chinese government reimburse the WH Group in some manner for the tariffs WH Group pays in the US?
As is more and more typical, the Times fails to report relevant and material information critical to understanding the little news that it does report.
13
Even the Des Moines Register, which should be more informed on agricultural matters than the New York Times, is not reporting fully about Chinese ownership of U.S. agricultural companies.
8
There have been reports about WH Group by other news sources. It's important to get news from several sources in addition to the NYT, something FOX viewers & POTUS seem reluctant to do.
4
There is persistent confusion about who pays tariffs, and to whom. Tariffs are paid at the port of entry by the importer. Thus, if China puts a tariff on U.S. pork, the importer in China pays duty to the Chinese government, either so much per pound, or a percentage of the value. It is an added cost to the importer and will figure in the price he charges to his customers. The duty paid by the importer is revenue to the Chinese government. The exporter in the U.S. has nothing to do with it. His only concern is whether the increased cost to the importer will result in higher prices to the Chinese consumer that will eventually lead to less consumption and thus less business. Since the Chinese purchased U.S. producers of pork because they were concerned about how to provide enough pork to their citizens, it is not likely that they will reduce their purchases. The tariff on pork imposed by the Chinese is mostly a negotiating ploy and will not result in less business for U.S. producers. The Times should have reported on this more clearly.
1
President Putin is happy that his Vice President Trump is doing so well.
12
Trump is fixing a watch by smashing it with a sledgehammer. Now that we are ending up with a pile of scrap metal, Trump supporters shout: "was he supposed to do nothing?"
15
Trump voters looked the other way when Trump went on his racist tirades during his campaign. They looked the other way when he made bigoted slurs, insulted a person with disabilities, and urged his followers to assault the press. Trump voters looked the other way when Trump told them sexual assault was a joke.
Then after the election, Trump voters looked away as Trump told the nation that neo-Nazis and KKK were some very fine people. And Trump voters will tell you that they continue to look away from the nightmarish turn this nation has taken, because he is such a good "business man".
Now most Trump voters (nearly all white) aren't multi-millionaires and stand to lose much as his administration dismantles the solid economy it took President Obama eight long years to get back on track, after the debacle of the Dubya administration.
So when Trump voters lose their pension funds, when Trump voters continue to hemorrhage manufacturing jobs, and when Trump voters in farm country can no longer sell their produce or meat, they will be in denial. They will blame everyone but themselves.
But there would be no abomination in the White House that is Donald Trump without them. They have brought their hardship on themselves, and I for one am thrilled. Let them take responsibility for their actions, for once in their lives.
My only regret is that their decisions have harmed so many of the rest of us. But the "suffering" of Trump voters means nothing to me.
42
It doesn't do any good for them to put a tariff on wine. Most of it comes from California, which suits Trump just find.
5
I applaud the Chinese for focusing their tariffs on the products and industries that disproportionately effect Red States. What will it take for the Trump voters to understand the fraud, corruption, and stupidity of their President? Let's hope those Iowa pig farmers are paying attention. (Don't hold your breath. Or maybe you should.)
20
As I only eat BBQ pulled pork, etc.. Will pork now be less to buy for Americans to eat more of ? Win, win, for Americans to be great again, thank you Donald !!!!!
1
See link
https://qz.com/1242652/china-tariffs-the-complete-list-of-128-affected-g...
Looks like that red state of California got hit hard.
Hopefully with the price of pork going up, beef will come down. Remember when they changed the CPI telling us it did not matter if the price of X goes up because people will buy Y ) ergo, prices are not going up
1
What are you saying, Jimmy? That you don't care about pork producers? That you only care about filling your gluttonous belly? No, Jimmy, pork will not become cheaper. In the long run, the price will actually go up as production is cut back.
3
Thanks to Trump the pork industry will be sounding like Bubba : Pork chops, pork BBQ, pork casserole, pork roast, pork ribs, come on America let's get on the pork wagon
3
Don't worry, everyone: Donald says trade wars are easy and fun. The Art of the Deal!
7
After Putin invaded Ukraine, Canada imposed economic sanctions against Russia. They retaliated by imposing tariffs on our pork. Our producers were hit hard but no one cried. They simply decided to do business with some other countries.
What is it exactly that we absolutely have to buy from China that we can’t get elsewhere?
Having said this, I hope no one thinks I like your president. Talking about building a wall while going to church on Easter Sunday is just plain insane.
15
I wonder how the stable genius gets out of this .... ? :-D
4
In 2000 the NYTimes wrote of Clinton's successful efforts to bring China into the WTO:
"It will be years before anyone knows if the economic roll of the dice behind today's vote, or the strategic one, will pay off. On paper, the accord promises vast new openings for American agricultural goods, telecommunications equipment and Internet providers, among others. But history suggests that as soon as China's tariffs come down, new bureaucratic barriers will magically appear."
The Times went on:
"But in the end, Mr. Clinton ultimately prevailed because he was able to sell a long-term vision of how America could use its economic power to change, and perhaps undermine, the nature of one-party rule in China."
It is amazing how poor our nation's leader's judgement was when held under the harsh light of history. You could go as far as to say they were a bunch of Pollyanna fools (or perhaps there was something more sinister at work). Comes now, we've created a giant, in China, that may very well destroy us.
Trump is correct to renegotiate this and many other bad trade deals. This is what leaders do. I suppose his opposition would have us stay in until we were completely hollowed out, gurgling, with our final breath: "but comparative advantage says...."
That Trump knows or sees the need to exit a bad deal, via any means, is a strength, not a weakness. His critics have never understood that.
9
btw this isn't 'negotiating' (need to work on your biases mate)
4
China can act independently, and retaliate against US products? Who knew trade was so complicated?
11
To paraphrase a certain infamous narcisist: "Please China, if you are listening - and I hope you are, please make sure you release, I mean target the produce and products of those wonderful people, they are truly wonderful, who made America Gr- I mean, a Joke, Again, by voting for ME!" - As quoted from a MAJA campaign rally on April 1.
4
I hate to admit his but Trump is right about taking on China by slapping tariffs. That is the only language China understands. He is also right that in a trade war, we will win - simply because we import a lot more from China than vice versa. Yes, industries will be hurt and there will be short term pain. But it took us 3 decades to get into this hole vis-a-vis China and it will be painful to get out of this hole. On a positive note, this may also bring China to the negotiating table with considerable concessions to us. Status quo is simply unacceptable.
9
A trade war with China is very much not a good thing. That said, something probably had to happen. China has had a long history of taking advantage of the US by requiring that US companies that wish to do business in China partner with Chinese companies. This provides an easy path for China to 'learn" US technology, and China has very much done so. The US appears to put far fewer restrictions on Chinese firms that wish to do business here.
Our overall goal should be to make conducting business and trade with China (and most countries) as free as possible. But it needs to be a level playing field, and getting to level may entail a fair amount of short-term pain.
9
With all his infantile name calling of those whose disagree with him, turn about is fair play:
How about: Don the Con!!
The current New Yorker cover is a gem: Don the Con wearing the emperors new clothes.
"Tariffs are easy"!!
13
It wold be most helpful to all concerned if the President sought the advice of competent people rather than blinder ahead flying by the seat of his pants on fire. Shoot from the hip foreign policy is a sure path to trouble.
17
"competent people"? You mean government bureaucrats that previous admins sent to do business for the American people? Trump has international business experience. I think he is not only competent, he's been paying attention to what's been happening for decades (and weighed in on it), and not only that, he seems to give a hoot about how the American people are faring by our global business policies. If anyone has blinders on, it's those who hate our president, no matter what--even if he tries to do something good for us.
2
Fasten your seatbelt, Sunny Jim
Trump has international business experience in the real estate development industry. Period. Actual economies have more moving parts than Trump ever dreamed of.
3
I want to see my iPhone made In USA, period.
9
Great, if you’re willing to pay $2000 for an iPhone, you’re welcome...
7
be nice, but would you be willing to pay double the price?
7
I want to eliminate all international borders.
1
Good. Now deport all the Chinese princelings from Ivy League schools. Then deport the Chinese H1 and OPT visa holders working for Chinese companies in the US. China is where it is thanks to the US in the first place, starting with their liberation from Japan in WW2. The longer we play nice, the longer they take advantage.
9
Most of those “Chinese princelings” are American citizens, who, unlike American spoiled brats, studied hard in school and did their math and science.
15
Princeling is a term used to refer to a child of a high ranking CCP member. And definitely not a US citizen. Reading comprehension helps.
4
The primary reason many people dislike POTUS is that he has opened a Pandora's box of racial and ethnic animosity that has been expanding since his election. This statement is just one example.
2
China has been abusing the policies of WTO since they acceded in 2001. The EU and US Presidents have widely ignored their actions. This might be the ONLY time I agree with Trump.
11
If you had to daily drive through the apocalyptic traffic jams near the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles with their suffocating clouds of truck diesel exhaust , you might think that a little less trade would not be such a bad thing.
15
As the largest economy in the world, and perhaps the most dependent on world trade, the US stands to lose the most from a trade war with anybody. China will come out of this better than the US and Trump will need to step-up deportations of immigrants and verbal lashing of minorities/women or find another distraction to keep his base with him. Wait, just breaking that judges are being handed deportation quotas: https://www.wsj.com/articles/immigration-judges-face-new-quotas-in-bid-t...
8
Trump supporters better stock up on Walmart good and Ivanka merchandise before everything gets too expensive
13
Here comes a worldwide Trump great recession 2
.. He will blame Hillary
7
On the campaign trail, Trump stood behind the podium and bragged that he could, "Stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters."
And his frothing hateful base cheered....
But when his cockamamie policies hit his voters right smack in their pocketbooks, will they stand by him?
It seems, we are all about to find out...
21
Now a smart person would realise that the US acting alone has a somewhat diminished power to effect the Chinese stance on trade. But working in consort with the rest of advanced nations who consume most of China's exports we would have much more powerful position. Instead Trump wants a trade war with the whole world. Simple minds crave simple solutions to complex problems.
20
Last week I could not reach the minimum spend of $250 pre-Easter holiday give away of a free turkey or a pork roast or a tofu lasagna at my local supermarket. Little did I know that the free pork picnic shoulder I was going for might be the last one I could have if these Chinese tariffs come to affect me locally. I would have tried harder to spend up to the $250. What will follow in the wake of this stupid trade war--an #freemypernil movement? And let's not even talk about where are my pigs feet going to come from.
1
It is a fact that red meat is not healthy and bacon and cold cuts are even more deadly --so believe me, you'll be better off. However the tariff will affect pork consumption in China not here where in all probability prices will drop.
1
neither pork or turkey are red meat
3
China will just have to reduce buying the US bonds and stand by for a dramatic increase in the interest rate; with the "great tax cut,' you will have a tough ride.
China and the Russian are working hard to replace the US currency by a basket of currencies; when you have a trade deficit without being able to pat with something YOU just have to print when needed Trump will start to learn what a trade imbalance really means.
Trump just shut off the autopilot, it will not be pretty...
7
I think that Trump policies are not too dumb after all - the purpose of all these measures is defaulting on the gigantic US debt to the Chinese and no, it is not due to the trade deficit. it was used to finance two aimless wars in the Middle East.
3
China owns one of the largest pig farms in America. Remember when they bought out Smithfield?
10
China, North Korea, Russia and others have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt they are playing chess while our president is playing checkers.
14
And that, my friend, is the brutal truth of this whole exercise.
1
As the New York Times reported on March 7 of this year Chinese tariffs have always been triple what the US tariffs currently are: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/business/trade-china-protection...
4
China has always had tariffs that are double or three times our tariffs. The New York Times just did a story on it about one month ago. So these new tariffs are really additions to previous high tariffs. China has always waged a trade war with the USA. Even iPhones, that are made in China, receive a 25% tariff in China. It is absurd. American cars receive a 25% tariff, too. Always have.
8
Get ready for the inevitable farm bail outs, Republicans will pay people to continue to vote for them.
18
Trump is like a carpenter who only owns a hammer so every problem must be fixed with a hammer. None of us would hire this carpenter, but some how 70,000 people in 3 states put him in the White House.
10
China as an innocent defender of free trade? Take a look at China shutting down Korean businesses after South Korea agreed to house an American missile defense system (THAAD).
5
Trump is playing checkers while the Chinese are playing chess. He is in over his head and surrounded with sycophants. This can't end well for any of us. But it's hard to feel any sympathy for those red staters responsible for this mess of a President.
14
First, if you do not know what Comparative Advantage is, the elements of the WTO agreements at least on a surface level and the components of US trade and the relative bi-lateral volumes and the nature of the deficit.......umm not sure how one can comment on this. The deficit is on the order of $300billion or more and US exports to China are limited. China has long been a broad violator of the TRIPPS section of the WTO agreements on intellectual property. It claims to be the second largest economy and yet hides behind the developing country provisions of the WTO agreement. The trade war has been on since around 2002 and the US has been losing. Address it now when the pain is going to be moderate or wait until it will be a real issue.
8
So much of this is self inflicted injury. China did not “steal our jobs”.
When the Japanese auto industry started to dominate in our market, it was because Americans chose to buy Japanese makes. A free market decision, even with Reagan era tariffs. However, the vast majority of goods from China are American company brands. Our industrial wasteland is dotted with empty factories because corporate America paid to move our tools and technology over there. We fast forwarded China’s manufacturing by 20 years in the process. Wall St. and top CEOs profited mightily in pursuit of the next quarters profits. Nobody seemed to care about the long term effects on our country, lest of all our
Elected officials, who are loath to do anything that might upset the donor class. Sad.
32
Here's the deal: Block immigration to decrease farm workers, put tariffs on farm products which will tend to bankrupt farmers, then Trump's donors can buy their land at reduced prices. It's all a plan to dispossess the American farmer.
Liberals are not the farmers' enemy, Trump is.
24
I am overjoyed if the Trump
Voter is getting his and her just deserts. Thank you China!!!
22
Only Trump would turn sensitive trade negotiations into a WWF match.
8
It seems many of these new tariffs imposed by China will hit Trump's willfully misinformed FOX Nooz base right in their proverbial wallets...
HOW APPROPRIATE!!!
24
According to President Fox Dennison:
WINNING!!!
6
This isn't the end of the stock market heading south. Trump is intent on undoing and destroying everything President Obama accomplished. Whether consciously or unconsciously, I believe Trump would be happy to destroy our economy too, simply because Obama rescued it: "It will be the biggest recession ever!!! " Trump's degree of self-destructiveness surpasses Nixon's by far, and that should scare everyone.
21
Trump is a frightening and dangerous to our Democracy and to the world. We now have Sinclair Communications serving as a propaganda machine as if Russia was issuing instructions on how to destroy our Free Press. There is no cyber security for our electrical grid, our financial services, our nuclear projects and Trump does nothing to protect us. This is what Russia does when it takes over other countries there is a pattern of destruction and Sinclair Communications is a excellent undermining of our Free Press and operates like a Russian communication machine.
15
If you leave a bull in a china shop, eventually it will break a lot of glass. Welcome to Trump year 2.
15
More like a bear (market) in the china shop.
4
We could have competed with China if we had stayed in the TPP agreement. But no, not only did the moron blow that he started a war with China without any soldiers. But then that would be what Putin wants, right? The USA is collapsing a little bit each day but hey almost half the voters wanted the moron.
25
Are the American people nuts? We send China 500 billion dollars a year.... They build great cities.... pay decent wages... build up their armed forces..
The Chinese own one trillion dollars in American debt which we pay biliions to them in interest.
Where does the money come from to pay China? it's printed and has destroyed America but nobody has noticed.... America is living on debt... and that will end... and we will be third world... India may give us food aid... if we're lucky
10
Trump loved to brag about the stock market when it was on it's way up but I don't hear him uttering a sound now that it's tumbling down. Unfortunately, there are some of us who rely on the market to pay our
monthly bills. He is destroying this country with his lack of experience and stupidity. The people who still support him are completely ill-informed and because of that, the rest of us are suffering. He needs to be impeached before there is nothing left of this country.
17
I wish no ill will on anyone who owns a small business or works for a living.... And it is reasonable to understand the millions of desperate citizens who voted against the corporate status quo that both the Republican and Democrat parties had favored for decades going into the 2016 election cycle...
But, after over a year of utter failure and daily national embarrassment, I can't help but believe that ANYONE who still supports this traitorous know-nothing corrupt pathological liar occupying the White House does not have the national interest at heart... And therefore deserves exactly what they've got coming...
At some point vacant policies based on Hate, Fear, Division, Denial, FOX Nooz talking points, and "Sticking it to brown people, immigrants, and foreigners," only goes so far before the the damage is felt across the board...
I have no more sympathy for the Trump Base...
37
Well stated.
12
More loose, loose, louse from Trump, make America Dumb again, and again, and again. Almost three more years? I think I am going to be sick.
How smart do you have to be to know that the Chinese are going to say, to heck with this and then we have lost the largest customer in the world that others will be only too glad to take care of.
5
Hey Trump supporters! Your IRA is now under water compared to January 2nd!
How do you like your president now? He is bankrupting farmers and small manufacturers all across America.
MAGA! Yeah!
Make America Grovel Again.
11
I'm interested to know more about Senator Warren's meeting with Chinese officials and her take on trade issues. "America is waking up" Warren says and "policy is beginning to change." Which policy and how?
5
All those Trumpettes in the red states are now getting just what they asked for.
10
This is what government by Twitter troll looks like.
5
Well, the farmers voted for this creep. You reap what you sow. Feeling great again?
11
Winning trade wars is easy and I'm so tired of winning!
6
This is Winning !!! Happy, Trump fans ??? Just wait.
p.s. You were warned. Bigly.
13
Trade wars are easy to win, if you can cripple your opponent by putting high tariffs on things they export to you, and you have other sources to buy the same goods. Their product now costs more, and fewer will buy it.
2
Looks like Trump has shot his supporters in their feet. The Lord of Bankruptcy has struck again.
5
It's almost as if he is trying to tank the stock market and hand China both a moral and economic victory.
winning?!
5
Tariffs are a very blunt instrument to show your displeasure with China on their unfair practice requiring intellectual secrets to be shared by American companies in order to sell there. The World Trade Organization (W.T.O.) is the appropriate forum for dealing with such disputes with tariffs a last resort. This seems to be one of those cases where "Two wrongs don't make it right." It may be good P.R. for Donald Trump, especially with his nationalist base, as well as a way to distract from all the negative media about his infidelities and improper behavior with Russia. But, with serious negotiations looming with North Korea this is not the time be starting a trade war with China.
6
Still no mention of Ivanka and the rest of the Trump family's wonderful array of products they still make in China. How about we slap a 100% tariff on that stuff as it tries to sneak back into our country? You know. To Make America Great Again.
17
China may have the biggest population in the world, but is still an emerging economy. All emerging economies flout rules, pay workers little, steal ideas, do the dirty work for the more advanced countries (ex: recycling junk) and protect their markets.
What Trump's advisers and Fox commentators fail to see in their xenophobic stupor is that China is growing up. One sign of that is joining the WTO, another is the rejection of our recyclables, another is concern for their environment, another is the growing middle class. Trump and gang, like spoiled children, don't want to work with the gangly goofy looking new kid in the class, are pushing away the best growth potential for the US market.
With patience and smarts, China could be brought in from the outside to toe the line. It looked to be happening despite the public displays of face saving dismissal of US accusations. They really disliked the human rights abuse shaming.
Trump's merry band of gov't wreckers, have decided to needle the tiger as a way of making this administration look like it is accomplishing something. While it wastes its time doing that, China is actually thinking strategically testing the waters to see how hollow Trump's rhetoric is.
Historically, without emerging markets, the economies of the world fail. But with Trump, the opposite of sensible always happens. He is going to take the future potential of Chinese markets for US exporters and smoother it.
75
Stocks down 2% today, and Trump-country goods are going to take a hit from Chinese tariffs. MAGA y'all! You completely deserve it.
12
Trump brought this on himself, I certainly don't blame China for imposing all of those tariffs. They didn't strike first, they just struck harder. The only losers here will be citizens of both countries.
I agree that it would be better for the two countries to "stay rational and work together to maintain the overall stability of their economic and trade relations," however, we don't have a rational president in office so...there goes that
5
Watch out for the chicken feet backlash . Americans don’t eat chicken feet. They go to China ( they love them). With the tariff, the legs will now be dumped into the Pacific and swirl around with the tsunami of plastic bags . This is how the world ends.
5
Already experiencing invasion of the chicken feet nightmares
3
With China's recent tariffs and the DJIA down over 700 points [-3%] in less than one day, Trump has the Trade War he wanted. Trump bluffed he would impose tariffs on $60 Billion of Chinese products. China called his bluff and has actually implemented 25% tariffs on US Pork [among other products] with a laser like focus to hit Trump supporters in the Midwest where is hurts most, their livelihood.
Trump tweeted "Trade wars are good and easy to win". He has no idea how to stop this trade war. If he backs down now, Trump will look like a Wimpy Loser just like any bully who is stood up to by someone stronger.
If this is winning [which Trump said we would get so tired of winning], what does losing look like?
As the saying goes, beware what you wish for.
14
I can hear that annoying brat 'Nelson' from the Simpsons saying 'HA ha'
2
This is just the opening salvo in a trade war that America can't win and that will most negatively impact poor and lower middle- class consumers the hardest. This trade war will cripple our agricultural based export economy leading to a deep, painful recession in farm country. This is what electing an demagogue and an ignoramus as our President has brought our country to...the brink of disaster and yet Nero fiddles and entertains the masses with bread and circuses.
7
Identify at least 256 China products and threaten 50% tariffs. And start massive investigation of all containers coming into our country. Use leverage, not fear.
1
Something like that would have serious U.S. and world economy impacts. How about not doing tariffs at all?
1
that sounds efficient...
Underwear and socks?? Or, baseball caps! Seriously. That's three.
Tariffs Facebook Trump China all subservient factors in the all mighty rule.
Markets ultimately revert to the mean. This was coming sure as the sun rises.
2
According to a full list of all 128 products see link below - this will hit farmers hard: fruit, nuts, vegetables, livestock, wine. As if they have not already been hit hard enough due to the chaotic and confused changes for migrant workers and temporary visa's.
https://qz.com/1242652/china-tariffs-the-complete-list-of-128-affected-g...
25
With Trump's newest pronouncements concerning our trade war with China and the rest of the world, DACA, and some idiotic Fox news expose about caravans of refugees careening across Mexico to our borders, Trump as slumped from the worst President in our history, to the worst President we could imagine. He really does need to be removed from office. The man is incompetent and dangerous.
46
The vast majority of US manufacturing jobs were lost and are being lost to automation. While China has been responsible for some job loss in the US, the far bigger problem has simply been that many industries are no longer competitive. There are a variety of reasons for this, but one of the most important is simply that, in a globalized economy, some states are going to be better at low skill industries than others. Many Americans seem to be judging their economic status based on US economic dominance from the 1940s -1970s - a dominance that was made possible, in part, because the rest of the world was recovering from the devastating effects of WWII. The bottom line is that the US has benefited enormously from globalization, but it has failed to manage those benefits properly. Rather that using govt policy to better distribute the wealth of globalization by providing better social programs, retraining programs, affordable education, etc., the US simply allowed market forces to do what they would do, damaging some areas of the country while others thrive. Market capitalism is always socially destructive - it needs to be managed. But this is a failure of the American state and culture, not a failure of globalization or the fault of China.
61
Quite true and to level the playing field apply tariffs. Globalization must be resisted and reversed if we are to have jobs. Our demand support our jobs, not some other country's.
1
I strongly disagree.
China has had high tariffs, required technology transfers, subsidized industries with cheap loans, ignored workers’ rights and blocked US companies from operating freely. The US has not.
The US’s failure is in not attacking China’s unfair practices earlier.
4
gloablization is here to stay and since when do jobs depend on reversing it?? globalization also creates many jobs just not the ones you probably want to save...
3
So sick of drama!!
I miss no drama Obama!!
43
One of the most appropriate "personal" targets that Mr. Xi could hit—
Cancelation of all the Chinese trademarks given to Ivanka Trump after her daughter performed some Mandarin Chinese for President Xi.
I hope you're listening, Xi. Please. You want to strike back at Trump, this is how.
35
The bullying by this administration goes far beyond the attempt to bully China:
http://www.africanews.com/2018/03/30/trump-fights-rwanda-over-second-han...
March 30, 2018
Trump fights Rwanda over second-hand clothing ban
By Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban - REUTERS
RWANDA
The United States is set to ban duty-free treatment of clothing imports from Rwanda because of the African country’s decision to impose barriers on U.S. exports of secondhand clothing....
10
China will crush us.
Americans are addicted to cheap Chinese goods made in sweatshops.
That's why expensive I Phones are made in Communist China.
They cost almost nothing to make over there.
2
You are foolish, we might destroy China's economy. Cheap stuff you can do without, food not so much. And every progressive should be happy to not have sweatshop goods and pay somewhat more for them.
3
you should talk to the customers in Walmart
You and the rest of the Trump supporters really don't understand what you are pushing do you?
Paying more means inflation - inflation means a rise in interest rates - a rise in interest rates means homes cost more and those struggling with mortgage or debt payments will quickly be under water.
Stop looking for a war you won't win.
6
I couldn't be happier. The barbarous way they raise and kill pigs is a disgrace. I pray for higher tariffs on pork!!
9
We don't treat our livestock any better
12
wait--do you mean us OR Chinese pork producers? The tariff imposed by China on US pork will serve to increase Chinese pork production for their own market and decrease imports from the US, and probably raise prices to Chinese consumers, a tariff essentially acts as a sales tax on the product covered and all downstream production related to that covered product. So the cost for Mooshi pork in China will rise, and our prices for everything made from steel and aluminum will rise.
US farms are nasty but I cant believe Chinese farms are any cleaner or more humane, although I have never visited a Chinese pig farm so I cant say for sure
3
I can only speak about US raising practices - I am sure the Chinese are no better. However, if higher tariffs from them help the pigs here that is something. We can only hope that higher prices there would decrease the consumption of pork.
1
I get the feeling China just fired one across the bow.
11
Why does Trump hates US Farmers?
17
Simple. Raised in a gilded castle complete with privileged life since day one, he shares absolutely no affinity with the rabble. They disgust him in fact. But, boy did he lie to them enough to suck them right into their upcoming misery. Let's hope this November truly begins the revolution for the other 99.9% of us.
3
Why did the farmers vote for him?
2
@M
Trump hates everybody.
4
Bet ole Chuck Grassley won’t be singing DT’s greatness now that those Iowa pig farmer’s are surely going to be hurt- let the chips fall where they may, these folks ask for it and now they are going to get it- hey I bet the cost of the MAGA hats are going go up-
18
Will he be imposing a tariff on red baseball caps made in China?
24
An idea for President Xi:
After granting Ivanka Trump various Chinese trademarks following her daughter's performance for Xi in Mandarin Chinese—
Place a TARIFF on Ivanka Trump imports. [THAT will get the attention of con-Don Trump.]
13
Yes, hit him where it hurts the most $$$$...that’s all the t family cares.
6
This goes to show you that Trump's narrow minded and short-term thinking is bad for both the economy and national security.
14
China would like nothing better than leading America around on a financial leash, and Trump is walking with his trademark know-nothing self-confidence into his second major mugging, the first being when the Russians loaned his businesses their money for laundering and allegedly compromised him privately as well. European history includes notable incidents in which nations with kings indebted to lenders were consequently brought to their knees. Trump apparently learned nothing at Wharton, if indeed he actually attended classes there and earned that mysterious degree. Meanwhile Americans from farmers to financiers suffer the results of his blind punch-throwing. Witness today's stock market plunge. Fasten your seat belts.
23
Those loans that don't really exist???
Since you are asking, no the loans that do exist.
4
Since The Donald has invited Vladimir Putin to visit the United States, I thought I'd offer some tips on proper hospitality. First, offer the Russian leader a warm, down-to-earth stay in the home of one of the heavily armed white working class families who helped put Trump in office. This would offer Vladimir an opportunity to get to know the Trump Americans over which he and his oligarchs rule. Why let Trump and the Walmart Waltons have all the pleasure of mocking eye-to-eye those whose earnings they keep meager and who, as a result, make them rich? I would recommend Vladimir be invited to stay at least a night in an Iowa pig farmer's home so he could represent the salt that inflames the wound Trump is inflicting on pork producers with his tough-guy approach to trade conflicts with China. Over a deep-fried pork chop on a stick, Vladimir might want to regale the Iowans with the memories of when Kruschev visited their state and removed his shoe and hammered it on the table while screaming, "We shall bury you!" And: "The living will envy the dead!" Oh, there was a time in our history when Americans would have been repulsed by such threats. But having been boiled slowly like the frog in a creeping economic stew that makes them serfs in a feudal society -- and having their self-affirming and heartfelt hate of differences validated by a Bridge-And-Tunnel crook from Queens -- they will swallow anything. Even a deep-fried pork chop on a stick.
7
Waiting for President Trump to "crow" about how great the stock market is doing? What you will hear, instead, is the sound of crickets
9
China's actions are small...3 billion in impact. I can be a generally 'liberal' person, dislike almost everything about the Trump administration, and still support confronting China on it's absolutely agressive theft of American technology, lack of adherance to international norms of trade (and territorial definitions), and it's use of state owned enterprises to undercut the whole intent of 'free trade' under the WTO. China is feeling it's power, and plans for more. They have a new colonial mentality to the rest of the world. They don't purchase the products of other countries, they buy the land or the entire resource and own it. This needs to be addressed. Stop being suckers thinking prosperity will change them.
12
Tariffs are going to end up being an internal issue more than an external issue for Trump, and the sooner the better in my opinion. The Chinese can go elsewhere for pork, soybeans, wine and whatever other commodities they like. However, what Trump has done is pit two sources of his support against each other. Whatever benefit steel and aluminum producers think they are getting will be offset (at a minimum) by the pain inflicted against agricultural producers and manufacturers who use steel and aluminum. Tho good folk of the heartland (aka "real Americans") will regret their support for this fool of a president.
10
The President is single-handedly ruining the economy, hurting farmers, reversing the gains in the stock market and destroying my retirement savings and those of millions of other Americans. Where does this man's ego stop and his lust for chaos and destruction end?
18
So now I’m hearing that Trump’s personal fight with Amazon and Jeff Bezos is behind this market drop, as well as the Chinese tariffs.
I really don’t like — nor need — to be in the middle of this.
Trump — Do you not see that the power of your office, and the words (or tweets) uttered while in that office, have consequences?
Twitter, sir, is NO way to govern! Grow UP, already, and stop acting like a junior high schooler getting back at a classmate!
23
"Trump — Do you not see that the power of your office, and the words (or tweets) uttered while in that office, have consequences?" Of course he sees it! it brings him immense joy or something akin to it, to know that he has that power- even if it means it burns the entire country to the ground. Burn baby burn.
3
@Erica — This just proves that the man is totally unfit for office. Why does this country insist on destroying itself?
I guess I should direct my question to any adult in a position of authority in DC who can rein in this manchild — if anyone is left, that is.
I don’t think he’s even thinking about the country when he tweets. It’s all about him, 24/7/365. He holds grudges, nurses hate, and everything is personal. Just the qualities I want in a POTUS.
2
Those who claim that Trump supporters will be hurt by these Chinese tariffs, and that they in turn will turn on Trump, may only be getting it half-right. Yes, they'll be hurt. But their tribal loyalty to Trump includes their susceptibility to his ability to deflect blame. So even if they do suffer, they may well follow his lead and thus blame it on the Chinese (or, for other issues, on Muslims, immigrants, Hillary, Obama, whomever) rather than the rash, uninformed fellow in the Oval Office.
17
Hurt how, selling food to someone else instead of them???
Who is that someone, we would be selling the food stuff we are selling to China?
Let us say we do find that "someone". Right now that someone is already buying food stuff from another country, so we would have to compete to make that sale. Competing would probably mean lower pricing for our food stuff, especially since that someone will know we have a surplus of food. Let us say we were successful, well the country we outcompeted has to sell their food to someone and China will be that someone. What happens is with a trade war shrinks the export market of the warring countries, but competitors not involved in the war, their market remains the same as well as less competitive.
6
Hurts farmers across the United States when China puts tariffs on wine, nuts, pork, oranges, nuts, on and on.
1
Hopefully the trade wars Trump started will have effects back here soon. Trump's base is still asleep despite all the wake up calls. Maybe this will open their eyes that they have been conned.
7
Many commenters here seem to think that Trump voters will regret their votes as we continue to encounter tariffs on pork and wine, and other unpleasant effects of the mess Trump has made of our economy, foreign policy, public education, etc.
I doubt, however, that voters who support Trump can make the cause-effect analyses that reveal Trump's failures. I just see no evidence that confronting people who voted for Trump with facts and logic will eventually change their minds. My evidence for this view is anecdotal, and thus inherently subjective. Let me just say that I'm a member of a large but close family, and we no longer talk politics at family events.
12
Your idea of a failure is others view as a success, you really can't understand. And yes many can't talk politics because they lack respect for others opinions and are immature too boot.
@vulcanalex— Please enlighten us. What are the benefits of a trade war? You do know that many farmers rely on exports, right? So again, how is this helpful?
(Asking respectfully.)
4
Judging others motives prematurely is a sign of immaturity as well.
2
Trump will play this with a sledge hammer instead of a scalpel, but Democrat's criticism of Trump on trade likewise needs to be precisely tailored. There are legitimate grievances with China, and to save domestic jobs, Democrats have historically been the party of protectionism. so siding exclusively with free trade is bad policy and politically risky.
In the 1980's, the white working class voted against their own interests by voting Republican. Then in 1992, in order to win back the "Reagan Democrats," Bill Clinton led "moderate" Democrats away from election-losing economic progressivism, to join with the Republicans for pro-business free trade. The country was now largely united in favor of free trade, and the white working class was more willing to vote for the Democrats now that they were working against their own interests just like the GOP. The illogic of the political situation is explainable when you factor in race, religion, abortion, and xenophobia.
At a certain point, the white working class figured out that this was not good, and as their only sources of news were outlets like Fox, the Democrats got punished, while the largely more pro-trade Republicans flew under their radar. As disastrous as this trade war may turn out as executed by Trump, Democrats should embrace the intent, because - whether it is true or not - tinkering with the balance between free trade and protectionism, is what those most hurt by today's economy think is the remedy.
4
With this tax on pork, Trump's standing with the Southern farmers - an important part of his coalition - is dead meat.
5
As reported in Fortune, the stock market is having the worst second quarter since the Great Depression. http://fortune.com/2018/04/02/stock-market-nyse-worst-second-quarter-dep...
Since Trump took credit for a recent record high, then he's on the hook for the market slump, especially since the tariff idea was his and Trump ignored his advisors.
If there was ever a question if Trump is trying to severely damage America as pay back to Putin, here's some literal proof. That and Trump announced he'll meet with Putin next month. I bet that meeting will be held in secret without anyone around to tell what these two talked about.
10
China's protectionist actions are a real problem, not only for us but for everyone who trades with them. Trump's approach is ignorant, and will be ineffective. To successfully counter China's trade protectionism will require working in concert with our allies in Europe, and in putting some restraints on global capitalism's rush to the bottom. We cannot be effective against China while Wall Mart contracts with unregulated, unsafe manufacturing facilities in China to offshore all our jobs.
18
Where is the list of products ? 128 items would not take up that much column space, I subscribe to your news service to get Information!
10
Here's a full list. If you read Chinese go to weibo there is a ton of info there.
https://qz.com/1242652/china-tariffs-the-complete-list-of-128-affected-g...
2
Iowa's ambassador to China and Ex-Governor of Iowa, Branstad, looks the fool now since he supported Trump and now is hurting Iowa farmers.
29
...and so the great trade war begins...
In the backdrop of all this tit-for-tat battle with China, let's not forget that China is a primary trading partner with North Korea, so their cooperation in enforcing trade sanctions may start to wane.
I can't help but think to myself: "You guys voted for him. Now you suffer like the rest of us."
12
I'd like to see China put tariffs on coal, beef and alfalfa. Helps our environment and hurts Trump country
18
I was surprised at what they're targeting as well. Their list will hurt California far more than red state country, who the Europeans targeted quite specifically.
2
Does Trump, just for a nickel, think of the American farmers' fate when China is blocking the import of pork and wine with higher tariffs? I have the awful feeling that he didn't think of this for a second. This man is an outright scandal. Hardly to bear anymore.
18
It’s called a trade WAR for a reason. There will be ‘casualties’ and it is a matter of seeing who blinks first.
1
The market is down 651 points.
The Dow is dowm 76.78
Stable genius at work.
19
I think you mean the S&P, Madeleine.
Give it a week; see where they are then. One day does not a bear market make.
Interesting that China imposed a tariff on pork imports from the US when the Chinese firm WH Group, LLC owns the largest US pork producer and processor in the US...Smithfield Foods.
6
Brilliant management of the economy Donald. You can't tweet your way out of this.
10
trump must go before we are all penniless and he starts world war three.
14
If Trump puts winemakers and pig "farmers" out of business, these are 2 things I can finally get on board with.
1
I'll put my money on American creativity and innovation any day of the week. If China wants to play this game of tit for tat, they will lose.
4
With four times the US population, China probably has more smart people too.
5
Name one product that China has innovated themselves in the last 50 years and how it has transformed the world? Again, innovated themselves, not by copying and/or stealing other peoples' IP.
1
It's so obvious how being the king of steel appealed to Trump's chest beating ego but President Chi is light years ahead of him. He's saying you want to act stupid then I'm going after products that will hurt your support base and you can explain where it all went wrong.
10
Wine (the majority of American production) , and many of the "tropical" and Asian food products on the full list are grown in California. I would think they'd be a bit more focused on the origins of a product in selecting their choices. The EU (proposed tariff list published a few weeks back) did.
1
@Canary in Coalmine
Many of the products are grown in Texas and Florida.
Welcome to the Trump Economy! Brought to you by someone who has absolutely NO IDEA what he’s doing. Are we tired of “winning” yet?
21
So, Trump may have started a so-called trade war, the exact economic event that caused the Great Depression of the 1930's. Trump managed to bankrupt his casinos and his real estate companies a few times, now it's America's turn. Thank you Trump voters
22
We used to manufacture products in the US. Lots of "Made in USA" companies moved to China or other cheap asian countries not to reduces prices for consumers, but to increase their margins. And it totally destroyed the working class of USA (and other rich countries).
I'm surprised that it's actually Trump (probably by pure opportunism) who is the one who address the issue. As I'm surprised that Democrats and liberals, because it's Trump and everything related to Trump has to be bad (heard the same music with Obama back in the days), are the allies of laissez-faire economics.
4
You are rights, mets. Everyone chooses to believe that the decline of American manufacturing had nothing to do with offshoring of factories that manufacture clothing, furniture, textiles. No, it's all about automation. Nonsense, of course. The difficulty is that Trump sees the validity of certain issues, but his approach to solving these problems is idiotic. But everyone denies the existence of the issue, because they can't abide giving Trump and his allies credit for identifying valid issues. Our problems are more complex than either side wants to recognize.
1
Like the woeful matchup between the major league Mueller Investigation prosecutors and federal agents vs. Trump's rookie status legal team, now we have the White House "made for t.v." economic advisers vs. the Chinese international trade experts. What could possibly go wrong?
7
Trump has done much more for Canada than any recent President.
By backing out of the original TPP - a treaty that unfairly favoured US companies over Canadian companies - we ended up with a revised version in which most of the imbalance has been removed.
With his tariffs on China and their retaliation, Canadian produces will be able to replace US producers of many products in the Chinese market.
I would encourage all Americans to look on the bright side - all the help President Trump is giving to your northern neighbour. It is almost as if Canada conspired to get Trump elected, since Canada is perhaps the only economic beneficiary. And you thought it was Russians!
14
I hope the Blue state delegates to China are feeding them detailed info on how to best target red state market exports. If the GOP is going to "collude" in elections, blue states should at least be allowed to "protect" blue export economies, by identifying and outing the "colluder" state exports.
2
Firms like Apple shouldn't dictate our trade policy. How much in taxes have they paid recently, or are they still offshoring their profits via a phony headquarters in Ireland? Access to the huge markets of China comes after they're playing nice, not beforehand. China's been kicking sand in our eyes ever since they joined the WTO, and some spouting nonsense about tariffs never working want to give them more buckets and shovels to play with.
Let China boycott our agricultural products. See how that works for them. The country can't feed itself, and the rest of the world isn't going to magically start growing those soybeans and raising pigs for consumption. Just like we can't snap our fingers and overnight start making products in factories that were abandoned and shuttered decades ago, the Chinese can't just magically provide sufficient food for its 1.4 billion human mouths. In a world of almost 8 billion and rising while arable land constantly diminishes, it's simple supply and demand.
2
Soybeans and corn markets are glutted right now so China will be able to replace imports from the US at little additional cost. Not yet on the the Chinese tariff yet though.
Understand that China's long range Silk Road strategy is to become to Asia and the Indian subcontinent what the US is now to Eastern Asia. They are pivoting away from us.
Trump just accelerated the Chinese timetable
1
As long as people continue to vote against their best interests by falling for angry rhetoric and a quasi-demagogue who tells them what they want to hear, this will happen. Will they ever learn? Probably not.
America First was bad policy in the ‘30s and it’s bad policy now.
As I write this, the Dow is down -650 points. But, we console ourselves, it always bounces back — and it usually does. But one day it won’t. Wall Street does not like instability, and that is Donald Trump’s stock-in-trade on many levels.
I really don’t like the thought of my retirement assets in jeopardy at the hands of a bully who likes to pick fights and an electorate that clearly doesn’t know better. I don’t have 20 or 30 years to wait for a rebuild if my losses become substantial. I used to not worry about this so much; but the longer this man has the opportunity to wreak even more havoc, I do.
(And in the 10 minutes or so that it’s taken me to type this, the Dow has fallen more than 30 points. Good job, Don!)
22
Wise(r) from the experience of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the tit-for-tat tariffs introduced as a reaction by other countries, all of which greatly contributed to turning a Wall Street crash into the Great Depression, with dire consequences for world affairs, the US, supremely confident of its position after WW II - all its European competitors were prostrate, and lacking an historical perspective of more than a century, it could not conceive the rise of countries like China and India as challengers to its preeminence in world trade - created the GATT and later the WTO, a rule-based order designed to prevent such disasters from occurring again. Now it is a much less confident USA, distraught at the prospect of Asian competition even under the rules of the game it itself forged, which is tearing down this rule-based order. One would have thought that the lesson that trade wars can easily lead to shooting wars was one that a nuclear-armed world would not easily forget, but alas, history, not least economic history, seems to be poorly taught in the US, not merely at the K-12 level, but at colleges and universities as well....
Henri
11
Fair trade comes at a price.
On the planet I inhabit, you never get anything of value without paying a price. If your actions (or inactions) are guided exclusively by fear you will attract more and more things to be afraid of.
I don't love Trump; I don't hate Trump ... but I respect his lack of fear along with his willingness to muddy the waters.
For decades, countries like China (and not only China) have engaged the USA knowing we will cave in.
Free-market dogmatists feel that there is zero difference between surgical tariff-making and all-out trade war. They are wrong.
Armed with all manner fancy economics degrees they need to start seeing beyond black and white.
1
"The ministry said it had Chinese public opinion on its side after asking for views about the trade measures." Funny, China behaves more democratically than the US.
3
I hope that was sarcastic.
(China does not have a free press and arrests people who speak inconvenient truths.)
3
Between Murdoch and Sinclair it is not going to be long before the US can kiss goodbye to the free press.
3
Well, ain't this sweet.
A trade war has begun.
Wonder how high the casualty list will go?
4
Trump's actions on China trade would be taken more seriously if any of his other decisions were based on fact. He has created an aura of misinformation and lies for so long it's difficult to take anything he does seriously.
8
Looking for a crime is the Russia collusion scandal is just a diversion. The real threat to America lies within and that's Trump. Trade wars, immigration issues and repeal of environmental protection regulations will do more damage than any threat from Russia.
3
Next step, layoffs and factory closings...completely predictable chain of events. Thanks Donny!
4
I hope Trump and Xi can understand the citizens always are the only victims in the trade war. I don’t think the rich people or politicians will get large lose in this war that isn’t necessary, but some poor people might lose everything before it end.
7
Let him tank the economy before the 2020 elections. He was giving himself too much credit for riding the coattails of the Obama financial recovery. Let his supporters feel and live the pain as there will be nobody else to blame, as soon as possible.
47
What kind of American hopes the economy will "tank" and that other Americans will "feel and live the pain"? I didn't vote for Trump either, and have zero intent of supporting him in the future, but hoping for economic disaster to envelope the country for the purpose of political gain is ridiculous and offensive.
3
And so it begins, the great trade war that Trump wanted because it will be "so easy to win." I wonder when American farmers and producers of the rest of the 128 U.S. products now subjecteed to Chinese tariffs will get tired of winning.
49
@ John
You wrote: "Ricardo, a contemporary of Adam Smith laid out the rule of comparative advantage in trade in the 1780s. It is something every student learns about in basic Economics classes in university. Wharton grads SHOULD be well versed in such a simple idea that trade is a net benefit to everyone." While Ricardo is still taught in many universities, including mine, his example is now subject to question.
He argued that England and Portugal derived mutual benefit from a trade in which Portugal provided England with wine and Engand provided with textiles. Ricardo assumed that the consequences ended when each nation provided the other with products that each nation was best at producing. I do not agree.
The development of the textile industry in Britain provided jobs in designing and constructing machinery as well as in building textile factories. Also, since the international market for textiles was (and remains) exponentially larger than the market for wine, the English specialization in textiles proved more valuable than did Portugal's expertise in wine.
The quantity of wine Portugal could produce was limited by the amount of available land and capital and by the smaller market. The Portuguese would have derived greater benefit had they sheltered a domestic textile industry with tariffs and developed the industrial base necessary to sustain that industry.
6
And who would they sell their textiles to? Would a local market sustain this industry and of course Portuguese would be paying more for textiles. And what would they do with that wine.
1
The Portuguese could have marketed the wine to nations other than England or, failing that, they could have converted the vineyards to the production of other agricultural crops that could have been profitably exported, such as wheat. Similarly, the textiles could have been marketed to nations that had not yet established a textile industry, such as the United States. Even if the Portuguese textile industry had remained a small one, the country's bsse of technological expertise would have been expanded in the process.
1
Yes, but they would have developed technological expertise in a field where they couldn't compete at the expense of developing an expertise in a field where they could. It would be like me devoting all of my time to becoming a professional basketball player. I might become very good (unlikely at this point), but I will never be 6'8".
Both within countries and across borders, it makes sense for people to do what they are good at (comparative advantage goes a little deeper than that--it measures what I'm good at according to how much I have to give up to do it). Specialization makes all of us more efficient.
1
The only living person who did not see this coming is Donald J Trump. To all his supporters in the agricultural sector, are you feeling the love now?
Trump is not a dealmaker, he is a loose cannon, a bull in a china shop, and he will continue to break our economy until he is unceremoniously dumped in the next election or, if we are lucky, impeached before then.
113
Between Trump’s tariffs and his insane attacks on Amazon, the Dow is down 500 points at the moment. Are we feeling great again?
46
I have been winning so much that my 401k equities has dropped by 10% since February 1st. I am tired of winning again and again. I am also tired of paying 3.3 million for the moron to take his entourage to his Florida resort. The only one making money in this deal is Trump.
4
China needs to relax the unfair tariffs it's enacted on US goods. Also, we need to stop its similarly unfair demands regarding technology & IP transfers as the price of doing business in China.
But at the same time, publicly embarrassing Beijing is not a very bright way to approach the trade problem. If Trump really wants to pursue the art of the deal, stop using a blunderbuss and try high-level and hard-nosed negotiations behind closed doors - where both sides will have room to maneuver.
It's just Amateur Hour on display from this White House. Day after day.
32
One of the few areas I agree with trump. We need to get tougher with China. North Korea complicates this certainly. The appropriate way to go is with our allies who have the same problem. Unfortunately trump has alienated all of them and they don’t trust him.
15
So we know how this plays out. Trump takes an extreme position to motivate the opponent to negotiate. Then he takes an extreme negotiating position to establish room to negotiate in a more favorable way. Then he bully's and slanders the opponent (or sues) to put them on the defensive.
From that position he begins to try and "do a deal".
And even if the opponent "wins" it looks like he won or he was defeated by really bad people. He then further slanders them, freezes them out or attempts to hurt them with their competitors.
And even when he gets what he asked for, like South Korea trade deal, when he realizes he didn't really accomplish anything, he delays the deal until he can exact more concessions through more leverage.
In each stage I would say he's not negotiating in good faith. As for the optics, he will always claim success regardless of the outcome.
It's your worst career nightmare when "that guy" is in charge or you have to deal with him. As for his supporters, I really wonder if they think everyone else "deserves" to be treated like that because of who they are. Its like they wish his abuse on them.
13
Smithfield big pork producer in the Southeast is now owned by the Chinese and the Chinese seem to be fond of pork as afood. The US eats Beef more.
5
What happened to the great relationship we were going to have with China after former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad became ambassador? Branstad is supposed to be a great good friend of the Chinese leadership and he couldn't get out of Iowa fast enough after Trump appointed him. Apparently Branstad's ambassadorship is exactly what it was intended to be: all perk and no real work.
7
The President told all these groups in all these states exactly what he was going to do before the election ,during and after the election and certainly yesterday. There have been drastic changes necessary for too many years and a balance will not be made immediately.You have to consider the bigger picture.First Iowa meatpacking plants cut the wages in half ,sacking thousands of well paying jobs which brought in immigrants who drained the tax payer funds.Milk factories owned by giant conglomerates are now closing family dairies.Factory towns like Newton which supported American families for 60 years and used US steel closed and went to Mexico,dooming entire towns. China will do just fine ,in the end they need US much more,they buy all the almonds in California.China also has completely plundered all the oceans with gigantic factory ships leaving most nations with lost fisheries. This picture is much ,much larger than it seems.
2
I hope every American producer, manufacturer and supplier that supported Donald Trump is willing to go bankrupt in order to support his policies.
I'm sure Trump would consider it the least they can do.
29
If he even cares about them...
This is the first time in U.S. history that we have had a corporation as president. The Trump Presidency is a new division of the Trump Organization designed to enhance the brand and produce more revenue for the corporation's hotel and real estate operations. The Trump Hotel was expected to lose money this year but became extremely profitable after Trump's election, which allowed foreign governments and lobbyists to bribe Trump and company with no oversight from the GSA or Congress. In all likelihood, it will take some bribes via hotel reservations from the Pork Assn. to lift the sanctions on China. The governance of the executive branch is virtually identical to that of the Trump corporation. Their goals are totally aligned. Since the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are "people" with delicate religious rights and the right to unlimited application of money to influence government, we can expect Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan to announce their candidacy for president in the near future.
13
So first, Mexico rolled over and paid for the wall. Next, Iran caved to pressure from Washington and agreed to renegotiate the nuclear deal. Then Korea caved to twitter insults against its leader and decided it didn't need a nuclear program. And finally, China has conceded in the trade war.
Winning is exhausting.
42
Well, Donald has assured us that trade wars are easy to win so let’s see him pull a rabbit out of his hat and do that.
Thoughts and prayers, that GOP panacea, aren’t going to help with a trade war any more than they have with mass shootings, so that eliminates one option. I guess it’s Jared to the rescue....
10
A Chinese company purchased Smithfield farms —pork producer—a few years back in order to supply the Chinese market with “untainted”meat.
So what happens now?
5
Strother Martin has a line in Cool Hand Luke that goes, "He wants it... Well, he gets it."
I can't think of a better way to express my feelings towards Trump supporters.
11
And so we see the collapse of the stock market again today based on Trump's uniformed, blowhard attacks on trade with China.
All of us with 401(k)s and other retirement plans will not forget this in November.
13
This is certainly an indication of how the Chinese president feels about all the glad-handing baloney Trump has given him over the last year.
2
I only hope the radicals advising President Trump on trade can be tempered in tone. A trade war will surely harm us, no matter the international effects.
8
Have you seen his advisors. They make Trump look like a sane moderate.
1
Mr. Trump said he would impose tariffs and tear up trade agreements. Trade wars and retaliation were always the most likely result. Not one credible economist supported Trump's trade proposals. Trade benefits everybody. It isn't a zero sum game. Trump's proposals wouldn't bring back jobs or increase wages. The Chinese fruit tariffs will hurt the Republican parts of my state. The pork and soybean tariffs will hurt any number of Republican states. No question but that China competes unfairly. The answer is the trade pacts. The answer is new and better trade pacts.
16
The answer is a new and better president. How hard would that be?
2
And the TPP was the stepping stone to that exact thing. Which Trump pulled out of...brilliant...
2
No, more trade pacts means less jobs. How can anyone not in finance jobs (that prospered) not look out the window and see our terrible trade agreements hollowed out our industries and ended millions of jobs? Trump is an idiot and he will mess this up. But he's not wrong, trade agreements have only hurt us. Helped a select few, hurt the majority. How come we don't have free trade for pharmaceuticals? Because corruption that's why. They can rip us off, their industries are protected. But not manufacturing? that's garbage.
2
It seems to be the general opinion that China took advantage of its membership of the WTO while pursuing policies that are against the WTO rules. Those rules are intended to promote free (and fair) and are the main reason for the existence of the WTO. Many of the members of the WTO have the same problem as the US with China, so why aren't they all complaining to the WTO? If they are but the WTO is doing nothing, it's worthless and the major trading countries should get together and come up with a joint strategy to deal with China. Unilateral action will just harm the US. Tactics that worked in New York real estate won't work on the global stage; world trade is a very complex thing.
3
They were doing something. It's called the TTP. Trumpers opposed that tactic.
That was the "Trans-Pacific Partnership" Trump already scuttled.
Major trading countries should get together, but it would help a great deal if your President stopped insulting and offending said countries.
1
But on a plus side, will China still buy our almonds ? And can we now use our water supplies for better use, needs, etc in the drought stricken West coast ?
8
Is the Year 2001 ...All OVER AGAIN. We're BACK to where we started. Even if we take out Wall Street, Both U.S. and China governments, and the Tariffs Out Of the Equation ...is the WORKERS on both sides of the Pacific that will hurt. Then Eventually the Economy!
The Economy was Already Growing and it is at a Stand-Still!
How can this be a good thing?
5
I hear trade wars are easy to win. ..... unfortunately Trump did not say for whom?
9
Trump bump to Trump dump.
It would be great if our economic policy put greater emphasis on wages and less on the stock market, but this is the worst of both worlds - a shrinking pie.
9
It's called a plutocracy, at some point workers will wake up to the fact, that with congress supporting corporations, they have been actively suppressing wages for decades now. This is accomplished by insourcing, where you import labor, using the H-1B visa program. And by outsourcing to cheap labor markets, such as India, China, Philippines, Thailand, etc. Labor costs in India, China, and other "emerging economies" is about 1/5th of the wages of US workers, both high tech workers and manufacturing workers .
People forget that NAFTA was negotiated by the first George Bush, and ratified during the Clinton administration. That was when the trend in outsourcing, and insourcing started. As a result, the American worker's wages have been stagnant for decades, and corporations no longer share the success of their company with the workers (as they used to) in the form of higher wages. Not to mention the ongoing union busting activities of state governments and our own supreme court.
States are passing Right to Work laws that strip the union of their negotiating power, under the guise that RTW laws benefit employees, and unions aren't needed. Those RTW laws, have been part of the strategy of the ongoing war on the American workers. it's time we woke back up and realize that the only way a US worker has benefited is when we had the ability to reach into their pockets by striking, and by contractually obligating them to sharing in the success of the company.
1
Is there a list of these 128 products (in english)? I know there is the high-level items of 'pork, steel' but I'd like to see the actual list attached to this story, so I can help judge the impact for myself.
5
Is your Google finger broken?
https://qz.com/1242652/china-tariffs-the-complete-list-of-128-affected-g...
Trump makes up comments on the fly but is too stupid to understand the consequences of his actions. This is why, among other reasons, he needs qualified advisers, not the idiots he calls on the phone typically during "executive time," to discuss national and worldwide issues that he doesn't understand and never will. I wonder if he is disclosing classified information in discussing such matters with his friends? Oh, that's right, he gets to decide what is classified and what isn't.
18
The clueless Trump continues to bumble about in the Oval Office. This trade war with China is the latest episode in a Reality TV Show where Trump is the Apprentice. We the people have watched his pathetic performance and we say: You're Fired!!
10
Hopefully now Trump's base will begin to realize why so many of Trump's businesses went bankrupt; he is dumb and cannot understand simple economics.
21
You don't have to understand simple economics, when you have bankruptcy laws to fall back on. When you can destroy small businesses that were dumb enough not to ask for payments up front, without fear of court ordered payments because those small businesses didn't have the money to pay high end lawyers.
Lets not forget that Trump destroyed many small investors as well, those that believed his "Art of The Deal" book, they believed that Trump had the Midas touch, that Trump wouldn't possibly run his publicly traded company into the dirt. Even some of the more savvy investors stayed in, and some bought more shares, even when he was missing interest payments. Remember, daddy Trump, rushed in and purchased 3 million worth of gaming chips in a effort to subvert the new Jersey gaming laws.
But some richer investors that had far more money than brains, ran out and purchased shares of his stock, in a failing company. A company that wound up And when he defaulted, more investors rushed in.
Trump "runs" the govt as he runs his companies-bullying and taking advantage of others, ignoring their needs, and going bankrupt and the heck with everybody else. He's not used to powerful push-back. Welcome to the real world!
13
Is there a single person, one single person, in this administration with a high school diploma? The things these people are doing defy logic, science, economics, social norms, you pick it. This gets scarier by the minute.
11
I'm no fan of Trump but on this he is right. China is hurting no one with its tariffs - except it's 1.4 billion people, most of whom are poor and hungry. Now they will have to pay more for their food. China can't win this. Ridiculous how the liberals are now talking up IMF and World Bank free market talking points!
2
Oh it's hurting people alright and those people are in the heartland. Trumps strong base of support. I am loving this because Trump is shooting himself in the foot on this one. Perhaps this one dumb move will do what all his stupid tweets and childish behavior has failed to do. Start to eat away at his base.
14
You really think the U.S. is the only supplier of pork and fruit in the world? Seriously? Any country with even rudimentary grade school economics under their belt will jump all over this and fill the void. As your man sits in a corner, pouting, grousing, sucking his thumb. Outwitting himself again. The White House is no place for novices surrounded by other novices.
9
Move over Warren G. Harding, Trump is going to go down as the worst president of the United States. Both Republicans, empty suits and philanders. Trump is trying to run the country by the seat of his pants like he probably ran his company. The Art of Deal expert should have been negotiating with China, not just implementing tariffs. I thought the president of China was Trump's so called good friend. I hope America's farmers who voted for Trump will be happy with the coming trade war with China.
8
I just checked my stocks and thought, What has the old fool tweeted now?
Not sure how much more of this trade-war "winning" I'm up for.
6
"Trade wars are easy to win." Remember Trump's foolish statement when you are filing your taxes on a post card this year.
8
I guess the President's plan is working. Now that the trade war seems to have been engaged by both sides with some minor skirmishes, he is going to show how quick and easy it is to win a trade war. I expect we should hope the President finally will be proven right about something.
1
It looks like Peter Navarro was wrong in his prediction that China would not respond to the increase in tariffs by the U.S. If he keeps this up, he may surpass the record of Larry Kudlow for poor forecasting.
13
Trump wanted a trade war, well now he has it. While Trump threatens tariffs on $60 Billion of Chinese goods, China called his bullying bluff and took quick decisive action yesterday. Among the 128 tariffs, China surgically targeted US Pork producers with a 25% tariff taking effect today. This hits Trump supporters directly in the Midwest farm states that put Trump into office. There is no way for Trump to target Chinese goods to hurt the Xi government directly.
Although Trump has tweeted "Trade wars are good, and easy to win", no Trump supporter should believe his lies that that trade wars are easy to win. China has other options such as Europe, Brazil or Mexico to meet its pork and other fruit import requirements.
Just remember, Trump's claim of Make America Great Again rings from the China's perspective as Make China Great Again. Two can play the trade war game. The US and especially Trump supporters will not be the winner in this war. China can escalate this trade war with laser precision to target the livelihood of Trump supporters, Trump can only retaliate with a blunderbuss attack of tariffs on China.
11
Is Donald Trump (private businessman) shorting the market? Maybe not directly, but through his minions? He has unilaterally destroyed billions of dollars of equity value through tariffs and tweets. He certainly can time his outbursts, and by now, he knows exactly how fast those hydraulics of market depression will work. He could make a small fortune on the lowdown every time he does this. What's to stop him? How would we even know?
19
I don't even have to read the article. Look for prices on everything to skyrocket Americans. Any tax decrease you got from the recent tax bill, (which in reality won't lower anyone's taxes) are gone on higher prices.
10
Trade wars have consequences? Who would have thought.
Fear not conservatives, this is just part of God's plan to disenfranchise farmers and impoverish rural Americans.
12
I took my 401K out of the stock market the moment Trump started talking about tariffs. I will reinvest after Trump is impeached.
15
America is much too dependent on China and China is on course to be the new global superpower this confrontation had to happen at some point.
4
Yeah, it was a win-win situation until Trump came into office. Amateur hour!!!
China imposes 25% tariff on imports of American pork, with threats of tariffs on soybeans and other agricultural products to follow.
Kansas went big for Trump? Kansas is a farm state. Senator Pat Roberts, Senator Jerry Moran, Representative Ron Estes, where are you? Will you speak up for Kansas farmers and the economy of our state, indeed of our country? Nothing so far.
12
This is what Trump supporters want. The whole admin looks unhinged to the rest of the world. Aside from being a property developer and being divorced from reality, Trump needs a new show script every week. That's what he knows and that's what we are getting.
19
I hope the Chinese increase tariffs on pork and such - and reduce them on wine. Two reasons - first, wine generally is produced in California, Oregon and NY - states that did not and do not support Trump and his tariffs. Secondly, the world needs wine, and plenty of it, to get through the next 3 years of this disaster of a president.
111
I don't think the Chinese particularly care what part of the US these products are from. Blue America did a lot of "it's not my fault" after the Iraq War, too, and I don't the world particularly cared.
Also, rural areas in California are actually quite conservative in how they vote. The now (in)famous Devin Nunes, for example, is from California's agricultural Central Valley.
3
Barbara, I'm a Californian and wish I could agree with you. But, it turns out China is more laser targeted than you think. Devin Nunes comes from an agricultural district that grows grapes and many other agricultural products on China's tariff list. And Kevin McCarthy also presides over a district that has a large agricultural economic base. Hate that might mean higher wine prices for us...but let them punish a couple of these last surviving GOP'rs hanging on for their dear lives here. Might be their final end! Drink wine from Sonoma and Napa counties...reliably Blue and the Best!
2
Germany is known for manufacturing and they have faced the same globalization we have.
They invest in education for the working class, the trades and high-tech manufacturing.
After 35 years of trickle-down Reaganomics, we got an opioid crisis.
636
After brainwashing three generations of schoolchildren with the notion that the US is "under God", the US has a reality crisis.
11
Germany has achieved much by investing where it counts in industry. However Germans are not dancing in the streets as proved by the dethronement of their leader; she is a spent-force after recent election. Europe is in crisis and Germany not strong enough to hold it together especially as Britain walks out complaining about EU rules and regulations. The US with debt crisis and still printing money for new arms race against Russia; backwards move. US seems more upset with China; China getting richer and that is not supposed to happen. China prefers the US to see trade not as a race (winner takes all) but the pursuit of improving living standards. China is not chasing the USA; China seeks something far more tangible; mankind living in peace and prosperity; Seriously.
3
I guess one could say the in Germany, the politicians generally work FOR their nation rather than against it. If Germany were the size and as populated as America, they would be the world's economic leader--bar none. We, on the other hand, voted in a clown and now we have the Circus
9
If you feel a friend isn't treating you fairly, you take them aside, explain the issue and come prepared to discuss a solution. If you want to make an enemy out of a friend, yell insults at them in front of a lot of people and refuse to apologize.
Trump's behavior toward China is designed to please his base, regardless of the damage he is doing to our economy and our relationships with other countries now and in the future. Just as with the Paris Accords, Iran nuclear agreement, TPP, NAFTA, no one will trust us to negotiate in good faith and keep our word.
55
no one will trust us to negotiate in good faith and keep our word...."
at least not while a REPUBLICAN is in charge--or even in congress. VOTE in November--vote them out, vote them ALL OUT."
9
multiple presidents have discussed this issue with China, they say they will fix it, and loudly promote they will, but ultimately their policies come way short. A better move would have been threatening them privately, and working on dealing with the WTO, but tariffs are going to be needed eventually, if america wants to have jobs in the future...
Prede - I agree that we needed to communicate that we are raising the stakes economically and do it privately, as well as getting the WTO motivated to support us. Given the ripple effects that tariffs generate, I'm not at all convinced that in the long term, they protect jobs or benefit the economy. They just raise prices for consumers, negatively affecting sales and growth.
Anybody get the difference between steel, easily warehoused and stored, with imports making up US production shortfall (according to Commerce's ITA)--and perishable goods, foods, not so easy to store or remarket, with a greater devastating effect on Midwestern farmers.
As Trump tried to protect his base, his ignorance left his flank dangerously exposed. China has now thrown a hard punch at soft products that support American families. Yet Donald's ego can never anticipate nations staying up to his bullying and braying, as Mexico has.
If America acts on impulse--tariffs announced by tweeter--and China responds with intelligence, a researched review of how its response can do the greatest damage to American industry and Trump's political support, winning soon turns to losing by recklessness, against the advice of both business and government officials.
Trump will never admit he got creamed. He is a blind mule living a fantasy. But America chose him with open eyes. Now we cannot sell what we reap; the silos will be full and the pockets will be empty as Trump declares a great win in trade!
226
Correctly said, and nicely put.
Let's just hope all those Red State voters feel the effects of what they have wrought, for the forces of comeuppance are altogether righteous.
12
Perfect analysis and presentation as often we see from this poster.
1
Trump is indeed a blind mule lead by Stephen Miller (commander in chief)...
1
We live in wine country of CA. During the election, we would drive by all the wineries and there would be Trump signs at virtually every vineyard. Oh, the irony. I'm drinking it in.
335
The Chinese like there wine and that will not impact their purchases I expect.
1
That sound you just heard was thousands of Okanogan and Niagara vineyard owners eagerly checking their inventory levels while their sales teams get their passports ready.
I'm sure our soybean farmers and pork producers are doing the same thing. And this wouldn't be the first time Trump has boosted business for Canadian exporters.
And after the way he's gone after us, I think we're entitled to take advantage of his mistakes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/business/trump-trade-lobster-canada.html
2
If you think the markets do not like tariff wars watch the drop if Trump cancels Nafta.Will not be pretty.
41
Yes but Trump’s base does not benefit from the stock market. Rich people that have money to invest benefit from a rising stock market. Those benefits don’t trickle down to the poorer classes anymore than a tax cut does. The way some people view it, a job saved or protected by protectionism outweighs any benefits of higher income to rich people as a result of a rising stock market.
3
Actually Trump's trade war will destroy more jobs than it creates. The poor will not benefit. Farmers are going to be big losers. In addition, the average consumer will be hurt.
1
I am disappointed in the weak Chinese response to Trump's tariffs. They should have banned all Trump wines, Trump beef (oh, those businesses failed, didn't they), and any Trump named products or licensing. Not endorsing the Trump brand name would have hit our nation's pride and economy to the core.
15
In a trade war everybody loses, especially Trump's supporters. The Chinese have only begun. Next: soybeans. Then they turn their investments elsewhere.
In the meantime, prices here for manufactured goods made from steel will rise, people will lose their jobs and fewer and fewer can afford the goods.
By his reckless acts and statements Trump is slowly destroying our economy, not to mention good will around the world. We'll look back on the Trump recession and ask why we ever allowed such a clueless oaf to become president.
Congress needs to withdraw Trump's authority to impose tariffs immediately. Twitter needs to shut down his account.
39
We do know how we did it: by neglecting the basic democratic process of holding a run-off election when no candidate in a race of three candidates or more wins a majority of the votes cast.
4
I think it's great that China is particularly going after industries in states that supported Trump. It's too bad that the brunt of all of his asinine policies don't fall solely on the shoulders of his supporters. I can only hope that the "Good and easy to win" trade wars continue, as long as they decimate the financial holdings of every Republican who supports our morally bankrupt fake president. Maybe when the Dow drops below 10,000 the Trump supporting financial centers will rethink their allegiance.
After all, there is no honor among thieves.
34
It certainly will be a blue November.
17
I'm waiting for this presidency to just be a commercial where "Hangry Trump" eats a snickers and America goes back to Obama.
18
In the 1890's President Cleveland fought against tariffs because of the damage it does to consumers and our trade. This wonderful and far-sighted President must have skipped those classes at Wharton. Too busy working for Dad , I assume .
25
Hey, all you 100% Americans in the farmland, how do you like your boy now?
129
Trump reminds me of the 'fearless leader' character in a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. Bluff and blunder seem to rule the day.
The stock market is not responding positively to the retaliation now by the Chinese government with their instituting their own tariffs on items we export to China, which was so predictable as noted by many economists. Trump's mantra when imposing the tariffs which he did was 'see, easy!'
It is only easy in the mind of a leader whose idea of keeping attuned to world events is to watch hours of Fox news everyday, the network which promises to be 'fair and balanced', and from that source, making decisions negatively affecting not only our nation and its economy but far too often, other nations of the world.
9
And so the Trump trade war begins. No prob though it will be easy to win, so says our leader. A not well versed or overly bright leader who follows the lead of Fox News. It truly amazes me that we have become so apathetic and careless in this country that we have allowed the likes of stupid news for stupid people to own the throne.
63
'Trade wars are easy to win' says our clueless leader. Markets have tanked and the worst is yet to come as the 'little guys' both workers and owners across the country will take the brunt of this idiotic doctrine in the coming months. Welcome to Trumpworld.
21
Stop China from stealing the intellectual property of our companies and small businesses. They steal our products and create knock-offs that are junk. It's got to stop.
5
and we will destroy the US economy and tech industry doing it. YEAH!!! The way to control China was through trade deals like TPP. Under TPP, China agreed to allow labor unions to operate freely. But Trump trashed the deal without even reading it as part of his "destroy all things Obama" policy. This country is being led by a moron.
4
I'm all for this trade War. China's targeted tariffs are directed at the states that voted for Trump and the Republicans. This is the smart way to manipulate the upcoming elections.
The Republicans have their Russians, but we have the Chinese.
22
The naive idea that the Chinese would roll over never was very bright. American arrogance constantly gets the US into trouble: Vietnam War, War on Drugs, the failed democratization of Iraq after invading it, support of the Contras, propping up the corrupt Karzai family, etc, etc, ad nauseum.
Now the Administration is starting one more war (a trade war). No one seems to remember Erwin Rommel's saying: "No plan survives contact with the enemy!"
22
Who cares? Trump's policies have the stock market soaring. Don't they?
2
The upward trend in stocks were in place years before Trump. just google snp 500 and look at the 10yr time series. He only rode the wave and claimed credit. In fact recent events are showing higher volatility, though how much he is directly influencing them is debatable.
5
The SPX just broke through the 100 day moving average. I wonder how large the short position is that Trump and his cronies have on the market.
2
I hope this was sarcasm.
No, they don't. Obama's policies did. Now Trump is killing the rally. S&P 500 down 3.5% year-to-date...
3
China only recently opened it's market to US pork. US hog farmers expanded their production to supply it, and now they will face surplus production for the US domestic market and lower prices for their hogs. A lose-lose for American farmers.
Also, China is correct, the US is violating WTO agreements. We (Trump) are now, officially, a "rogue nation".
22
The rapidly growing Chinese middle class will still be able to purchase our wine and nuts. It is us who won't be able to buy their electronics and other garbage.
They need us more than we need them. Our highly desirable products will still find another market. We can live with less plastic trash and trinkets in the US.
Someday, I'd really enjoy buying a vacuum cleaner made in America.
8
You hope your children or children's children get to work on a vacuum cleaner assembly line?
4
What a ridiculous retort. The Miele vacuum company in Germany seems to be able to produce good wares. We should be doing similar.
3
I thought trade wars were supposed to be "easy to win---SO easy." From where I sit there are so far only losers in this one.
9
Many commenters, in their zeal to fault Trump, may have not noticed . . ."In fact, China imposes relatively high barriers on many imports and on foreign investment in many sectors."
China has misused its membership in WTO since the start, and placed tariffs on almost everything it imports. Our prior POTUS ignored that, perhaps fearing the USA's vulnerability to China's continued willingness to buy our foreign debt. As of January 2018, the U.S. debt to China was $1.17 trillion. That's 19 percent of the total public debt owned by foreign countries.
But, on the other hand, much of China's economic growth depends upon its ability to export goods. The U.S. trade deficit with China was $375 billion in 2017; U.S. exports to China were $130 billion while imports from China were $506 billion.
China needs the USA as a market more than we do they. In a tariff war, they have much more to lose.
7
China might lose more tactically in the short run, but the Chinese leadership is insulated against short-run losses (as an authoritarian regime) and can play 'the long game' strategically. The Chinese have been building new markets and new transportation systems linking them to those markets for almost two decades now. When and if the US locks itself into a closet of isolation, the long-run Chinese plan to simply not bother with the US market will be complete. They know this might take 10 - 20 years. America meanwhile is locked into a 'quarterly results' mindset.
9
"Our prior POTUS ignored that, perhaps fearing the USA's vulnerability to China's continued willingness to buy our foreign debt."
Or perhaps participating in the idea that bringing China's many millions out of poverty and into a consumerist middle class was actually the greater world trade good? Just a little longer term thinking?
This, "who needs who more" thinking sounds like checkers strategy in a chess game.
10
I dont know how well aware of Chinese history you are. Chinese rulers dont care about internal strife when they think they are being pushed by foreign countries. The US will lose big time.
5
Just the first step in Trump's plan to turn over world economic leadership to the Chinese.
20
Absolutely! So much more at stake in this fight -- a silly fight to pick.
5
Timothy, I think this was his second step in turning economic leadership over to the Chinese.
the first step was cancelling the TPP.
3
Tweets, tariffs and strumpets - all flash and no substance, serving only to occupy the fine minds which observe and comment upon our nation's direction.
We, since January 20th of 2017, have a federal government for which the majority of voters did not vote. With a President, a House of Representatives and a Senate all in power despite receiving the minority of the votes cast (in total) for their respective offices, it seems likely that our minority-rule nation may make mistakes in policy areas, as logic is not what got them where they are today. Even majority-rule republics err occasionally. Citizens best ready themselves for the more interesting events yet to come.
21
Trump voters aren't interested in connecting-the-dots; they simply care more about being Republicans than protecting their interests. They wanted a "businessman" and- the got one. albeit a horrible one. We will never know how horrible, since Trump's entire business "empire" [sic] has been built upon smoke & mirrors and debt- and shady tax avoidance maneuvers:
What we are seeing in the way he "runs" the W.H. is how he ran his enterprises; knee-jerk reactions (and others having to fix his messes). Now- reduced to renting his name on other's buildings: Guess that's how he has decided to run the Country: affixing his name to Executive Orders and pretending it is legislation.
20
I have been disabused of a long held notion: that presidents alone are not primarily responsible for how the stock market performs. Trump single-handedly wreaks havoc.
Import/export, apples, Boeing, and Amazon contribute to the healthy Seattle economy. Where is Congress in all of this? Where are the grown-ups in the room?
8
Supporters of free trade like to cite the work of David Ricardo. Yet they conveniently forget that Ricardo himself understood that his theory only worked under certain circumstances.
A key assumption was that capital was immobile. A related assumption was that if capital was mobile, that capitalists would accept a lower rate of return in their own country rather than a higher return in another country.
Neither assumption is currently met, which is why Ricardo's theory no longer holds.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ricardo
4
What a way to celebrate Easter. He could have waited until Monday but he chose to do it on Sunday because of his own personal displeasure, anger, resentment and contempt he has for California and Immigrants in general. What a wonderful leader of the free world-not.
11
To quote the great Strother Martin in his famous rôle in "Cool Hand Luke", "What we have here is, 'failure to communicate'." It would be far better for cooler heads to prevail in this debate.
Trump's followers love his recalcitrance, but the problem with antisocial behavior is that bullies confront other bullies who don't back down. It's bad for the playground.
And another problem is that Trump has no plan for resolution of this problem. His is a naïve threat simply to make the Chinese "behave better", whatever that turns out to be. Markets don't like that kind of instability.
Trump's unilateral strategy leaves him (and us) alone in the world to confront trade problems. It's what his followers want; there is a price to having a shoddy strategy. We saw the result in the 1930's. As Santayana wrote, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." We are living that quote.
3
It's classic; now Trump will blame the Chinese for something he started. It's his whole modus operandi. And, depressingly, those who blindly follow him will actually believe it...all the way to the poor house. And once they arrive there, they can continue blaming everyone else: the Mexicans, the Chinese, the Canadians, the Europeans, the immigrants, the minorities, women--its a long list.
17
Sad that our main export to China is food items like pork while they are manufacturing our steel and other technological products.
Trump is doing the right thing protecting our industry and national security.
3
Germany is known for manufacturing and they have faced the same globalization we have.
They invest in the education for their working class, the trades and high-tech manufacturing.
After 35 years of trickle-down Reaganomics, we got an opioid crisis.
13
I thought it impossible for anyone to side with China over the US on any issue. But in slightly over a year the President has accomplished that feat. And he's only getting started.
15
What a shame that Trump enacted his tariffs during a childish snit, without any warning to, or approval from, his advisors or experienced economists, who know the damage tariffs have wreaked in the past. The stock market, often a leading economic indicator, doesn't seem to think "trade wars are good, and easy to win."
21
We've gotten to the point where the Chinese sound reasonable compared to the Trump administration.
35
Hopefully, the Trump supporters hurt by China's tariffs will do a bit of analytical thinking and determine that our little donnie isn't really for them. Tariffs won't rebuild industries that have died.
17
I thought China already owned all our pig meat producers?
7
I wish the Chinese tariff on wine were much higher. Maybe that would get Chinese speculators out of the market. Or maybe it just means less competition for the rest of the world’s wine speculators.
3
Wether we like it or not China is more than one billion people and their economy will be first in the world one day. When their products will become more expensive due to salary increase and better protection for their citizens they will have a huge local market even if their exports decline.
15
There are definitely serious trade issues with China that have to be resolved - including requirments that U.S. companies doing business in China have to turn over technology in order to do business there. Strong pressure has to be put on China to resolve these issues. China is no longer the developing country that it used to be and Xi Jin Ping is trumpeting the "one belt one road" policy as evidence of China's advanced economy. Therefore prior arguments by China that we were trying to stop China's development no longer apply. So we need to take strong steps now to protect our economic viability. The problem is, Trump does not think things through, he fires experts who have detailed knowledge of the subject matter, he tends to favor his own personal business interests and he tends to shoot from the hip. I do not trust that Trump will handle this matter in a professional and effective way.
25
Unlike others, China’s actions, which will hurt our farmers, will cause Trump’s base to widen and strengthen. The mentality of his base will accept Trump’s explanation that it is a the “bad Chinese” that are causing the farmers’ plight and not as a result of any actions done by Trump. They will believe Trump and Fox News, and Trump will spin the downturn on “bad China.” So I expect his support will grow from his trade policies, not shrink. This is the world we now live in, and it is quite depressing.
30
I think you've got reason to worry about this scenario. So many in his base unable to understand the intricacies of trade policy and the high cost of belligerence, especially when waged against an opponent you have badly underestimated. For now, I would have to say China's headed for a whole lot of winning on this issue. But I also think that beyond the base, a lot of people are seeing through Trump. We've got scattered election results -- from Mississippi to Virginia and into Pennsylvania -- offering signs of intelligent life out there among voters turning away from Trumpism and the GOP enablers.
7
China is becoming the new superpower. And it is demonstrating that autocracy is often more successful than autocracy.
In 1972, a famous book, the Limits to Growth, explored the consequences of exponential population growth on a finite planet.
Its findings were treated with ridicule in the Western press. It was argued that the entire population of the earth could be fitted into Texas with room to spare.
Yet Chinas autocracy took the findings seriously. Under Chairman Mao, the Great Chinese Famine had killed tens of millions.
Under Deng Xiaoping, the China introduced a one-child policy in 1979. China has done many bad things, including the curtailing of a free press.
But the one-child policy, which would never have been voted for by a democracy, seems to have paid huge dividends.
With a slower growing population, China was able to increase living standards for a large portion of its people.
China has put its own space station in space. It built 12,000 miles of high speed electric rail. The skyscrapers in Pudong are much taller than those in Manhattan. And China is beginning to compete with the US not just in making razor blades and toothbrushes, but in technology.
Americas liberals by contrast WILL NOT ALLOW a discussion of the implications of population growth.
Population growth is destroying LA, yet nobody can talk about controlling population growth.
It is racist to discuss this censored topic. The result is that the topic gets out, in the words of Trump.
11
America's liberals can think fine. Bill Gates and Melinda were worried if they focused on global health the population would increase, causing more problems. The results are staggering. Birthrates plummeted where health and social services increased.
10
Very discouraging. French Prime Minister Macron tried to broach this topic last summer and was immediately attacked by the press. Former Democratic Governor of Colorado, Dick Lamm, among others, was forced out of the Sierra Club for daring to question unlimited population growth.
1
I’m certainly not convinced that China’s success is attributable to their one-child policy.
You didn’t give any consideration to high population *combined* with standard industrial practices.
Shifting to renewable practices, means that explosive population growth is sustainable. That is why liberals bristle.
1
Why on earth should pork be shipped halfway around the globe on cargo ships when pigs can be raised on just about any feed anywhere? Why? because someone can make more money by exploiting well-planned loopholes that leave the real costs of unsustainable production to everyone else. No mom & pop business or farm ever needed free trade, unless they're trying to be a mini-Walmart selling cheap imports.
It's not that complicated. Unless there's a really good reason, make it at home. And if you're going to insist on polluting the globe because you can ONLY eat pork from Tasmania or wherever, then step up to the plate and pay the real costs.
18
It's called comparative advantage, and it is explained in nearly any high school freshman economics textbook.
4
Think of it as water being imported. All grains and even more so livestock are water "hogs". China is water constrained. These imports solve the real issue of water availability for large human population while increasing food-stocks.
5
No, China is not water constrained - it's clean water constrained, because it's been too busy producing things in unsustainable ways and passing on the true costs to others or the future. China has the 5th highest per capita renewable fresh water supply in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_renewable_water...
Okay farm states -- aka Trump states. What are you going to do about this? You have no grounds for complaint if you keep voting for Trump and the GOP without making them deliver for you. Remember: You reap what you sow.
39
More soybeans. Less pig farms! Sorted.
9
Yeah!! But China likes their pork.
If trade between China and the US were to be terminated both would lose, but one would lose more because it had gained more. Trade had decimated certain US industrial sectors and benefited others, e.g., finance, and adjustments made previously can be undone and remade better.
China had been, and continues,to practice Mercantilism, whereas the US had gone along with classical free trade theory for the benefit of special interests. Stop "Trumpizing" everything and consider what is best for the US in general, not for certain benefit groups. We know that helping free trade losers has not been more than a slogan (but if Wall Street is a loser, then we can be sure that help is on the way).
Clinton, Bush and Obama were proponents of the wrong policies for the wrong reasons. Trump might have the right reasons, but it is not clear if he has the right policies yet. The previous occupants of the White House were in thrall to their major contributors; the result has been to create a strong economic and geopolitical challenger to the US, one that doesn't play by the "rules," at least not those designed by the US - and have been proven to be no longer is the interests of the US.
In reading comments which dismiss Trump, I wonder how many commenters had voted for Kerry. He dismissed economic interests that took advantage of "free trade" to offshore American jobs to produce goods for sale in the US market. He called them "Benedict Arnold CEOs." Memory is selective.
6
Please check out trumps cabinet. One of the richest in many years if not the richest. Look up how Wilber Ross Sec of Commerce made his money. And while you are at it see who his big backers such the Mercers are and what they do
1
Of all the stupid mistakes Americans make when they deal with the rest of the world, the stupidest is probably our assumption that everybody'll collapse in tears when we say, "Boo!"
Along with our fantasy that we make better stuff than anybody else and always will, this nonsense has been getting us into deep, deep trouble ever since Vietnam, and ever since the first Japanese motorcycles arrived on these goofy shores.
35
I am a Chinese immigrant to US, and I have to say, most of the Americans don't realize how abusive China has been in trade and how right Trump was in deal with China in trade. Thanks to the naivety of the western liberals, China entered WTO, grabbing all the benefits without really fulfilling its obligations. Every European countries intentionally ignore this and every preceding US president ignored this issue until Trump. Now, everyone in this country is bashing Trump for what he did, and that's sad and ridiculous. China's dependence on US market is much bigger than vice versa, but the difference is Chinese president Xi can do whatever he wants, but Trump is limited in powered and misrepresented by the liberal media and misunderstood by most of the Americans. Sad!
88
This is not true, US consumer have benefited from cheap products coming from China, go to Walmart and you will see US consumers filling in their cart with products coming from China. Also China owns a large part of the US debt...it is not as simple as you said I think both countries will loose from a trade war...
6
While I agree with your statements regarding China's rampant trade abuses , I disagree with your assessment that it was the "naivete of Western Liberals" that allowed China to enter the WTO and continue their rapacious economic warfare against the West.
American corporations have for decades sought ways to lower their costs, and one way is to ship one cost - employees - to lower wage areas , in this case, China. It was a win-win for American corporations and the Chinese government. It was a huge loss for millions of Americans that used to manufacture those goods.
I've said many times before that I loathe Trump and everything he stands for, and didn't vote for him and never will , but on this subject, China, I agree with him 100%. I'm just afraid that without proper follow up and coordinating our actions with allies for a more united and powerful front against China, this could turn into a fiasco for the US.
6
In the Tech world, China's violation of IP (intellectual property) rights is a huge issue. For awhile many US Tech companies would not sell equipment or software to China. The joke is "How many copies of Windows does Microsoft sell in China? Answer: one.
About 10 years ago , US Tech just "gave up" on IP in China . Now, as a network engineer I travel to Shanghai and Beijing (my company now has developers there). When I am in my hotel room I use very sensitive firewall and "sniffer" software on my laptop when I connect to Wi-Fi. Within seconds hackers are attempting to probe my system. 100's up to 1,000's of "port scans" per hour.
8
Trump continues to be outplayed by every world leader.
16
So far, most of China's tariffs seem to strike at Trump's rural and working class base with port and steel pipes added to today. The wine tariff puzzles me, though.
4
The Chinese started this trade war. They have for decades imposed punitive tariffs and administrative delays on American imports. They're "striking back" because they're used to our banker class capitulating.
Let's be honest. Trump didn't start this trade war, he's just the first president with the nerve to respond to Chinese abuses and manipulations.
8
Yes China has been unfair, but I have no reason to think trump will deal with this honestly and thoughtfully. He and is family have been happy to do business in and with China for years .
He claims trade wars are “easy to win” and doesn’t care if it hurts American workers. As long as he can boast at his rallies
4
Could someone please tell Trump what a trade deficit is? It mean that capital is streaming into the U.S. economy. Now, is it money to aid us financially or is it because they're buying products, real estate, our debt; just a piece of the action. With a strong economy, it means they're buying a piece of the action. The higher they buy in, the higher the negative trade balance. It's not a bad thing. In fact, this kind of trade war will take our booming economy and drag it down. Who knows how far? Full on recession? How bad does it have to get before Congress acts and we vote this clown out of office?
2
China needs to be dealt with. I am not a Trump supporter by any means, and I have no background in economics, but I am very troubled by what is going on. And then there is Ivanka Trump's contracts in China. It is hard to unravel the truth. And can you trust what Trump says? I don't. "China's New World Order" is a documentary that I found scary. Of course, you don't know what to believe these days, but I found the documentary insightful. You can find the documentary on You Tube.
8
And who is behind that documentary, Mr. Court? Always examine the sources. Documentaries can be assembled that present half-truths and twisted facts in compelling ways.
1
These actions will hit residents of Trump Land right in their wallets. All of a sudden demand for products that they produce will fall, and all of those Walmart shoppers will suddenly see an increase in prices. Will they react - or is this acceptable for Making America Great again?
11
And now we'll hear from McConnell & Ryan. The farmers will be screaming.
Retail, which is already in a tough spot, would implode if Trump continued with more tariffs on China. Congress & the White House needs to remember that 1 in 4 US jobs is tied to retail.
3
As an ex-manufacturer of goods made in the USA I can tell you that Americans are hooked on disposable products; it allows them to stay up to date with fashion and technology (for instance) even if they have only modest incomes. I watched big retailers who were our main customer base shop our products in China and switch over regardless of the poor quality. Trying to bring back manufacturing to the USA is a fool's errand now; we have neither the trained workers or the infrastructure or to make it work. American manufacturers themselves also like having their work forces being someone else's problem and not getting their hands dirty.
More importantly if we stopped doing business in China most of the big retail stores would be absolutely barren of products; just take a walk through Wal-mart, Target or your local drug store chain and imagine the shelves empty. You could do the same in the virtual stores of the internet. (LL Bean, Eddie Bauer, etc.)
We do however need to protect what is left of the country's intellectual property. China has a way of leaping past the normal costs of research and design by stealing them. This was true when I was running a factory in Vermont that made innovative housewares products and it is true now with high technology including weaponry, computers, software and communication devices.
By the way, try and find a list of the 128 products that China is going to tariff... I couldn't. No doubt they were chosen to have the most impact politically...
43
The US itself seems to be quite incompetent at reverse-engineering what works in other countries.
1
Manufacturing may come back but not the jobs. Anybody locating back to the US will have 3D printing of the products, then robots pack them in boxes, and driverless trucks or drones deliver those products directly to the person who purchased it on the internet. A few decades from now there will be fewer jobs in manufacturing and distributing products than there is in farming. We need a president and congress that will provide solutions for the future rather than fight windmills.
6
Steve Bolger,
It is not reverse engineering when you steal the blue prints, designs or codes; it is theft. Even when China is protecting the processes for their Western companies manufacturing in China, employees walk out the back door with the information and know how and jump to a Chinese competitor. I wouldn't call some American companies having some scruples, incompetent. Nor do I see a lot of innovation coming from China. Yet.
1
This is China's first retaliatory response.
It will be interesting to see how hog farmers in conservative Midwest states who voted for Trump will react in November?
14
Just cut off China's access to American technology. That's where the leverage is. China's trying to replicate American technological prowess, much like it replicated American manufacturing prowess. This is a critical issues to China.
8
The Chinese have a million ways to obtain American technology. There's no way to keep American technology locked up in a "secret box" that no one can open except an American.
5
China strives to take the lead. Trump is putting on the brakes in the US.
1
No tbrucia, they really don't. You should do some research/reading on how China obtains manufacturing & technology. They've already captured American manufacturing know-how. Deals with American tech co's need to be cut off. Chinese students need to be expelled from US universities. Then they will pay attention.
I don't want to benefit from the pain of my fellow American farmers and agricultural workers but I expect to pay less for pork raised in Iowa, apple grown in Washington and New York and wine produced in California among other agricultural products produced across the US. I'm fairly well-off so I don't want to receive distributed income from American farmers in the form of lower food prices. I doubt that Trump and his advisors understand or care about the harms inflicted on many of his voters.
18
Joni Ernst is a pig farmer. Can't she do anything about this?
5
For a year Trump has skated on Obama’s economy and bull market. The expectation of tax cuts for rich helped. Now that Trump has actually done something affirmative, a trade war, the market is suddenly in an uproar and the economy will follow. The man is a disaster.
132
Do not blame Trump but ...Stephen Miller!
Now we are beginning to see American casualties in that trade war. So lets get that "easy win" now - or was that just Faux bloviating peppered with ignorance?
29
Beginning? Have you missed the rust belt? We have millions of casualties. The bankers are just mad that they're now paying for selling us out.
3
What bankers are you talking about? Fruit bankers, Wine bankers, Pork bankers? I know the people making those products are all scared and angry, but I don't think they are bankers. The actual bankers got their tax rates lowered from 35% to 21%, they will be fine even if they see a small reduction in some of their profits (presuming that they decide to be nice and swallow some of the tariff cost rather than pass all of it to consumers).
3
Considering that China bought Smithfield, the US's largest Pork producer, isn't putting a tax on Pork rather like biting off your nose to spite your face.
I think the fewer Chinese made goods arrive in the US the better off we are. So many CHinese products are cheap and contain ingredients that are banned by the FDA.
27
China can rebate the tariff to Smithfield and take market share from American producers.
Trump sure has a penchant for kicking over beehives.
2
I hope, American wine will be cheaper in the US now. Good news for many wine lovers like me.
19
Bonku--The Chinese people have really started to love wine, and will be irritated by tariffs on their new favorite drink. Not sure Americans will miss a lot of the lower quality Chinese products.
6
ug - american wine is awful...
they will buy wine from other places. America isn't the only wine producer.
2
The GOP don't know how to compromise. With their my way or the highway mentality we are in trouble. In 1932 the Smoot -Hawley GOP tariff set off such anger in the GOP supporters those two characters were voted out shortly after. Then we voted in for 4 great terms for Franklin Roosevelt who was for all the people. Not just the rich and corporations as this modern day GOP are for. Trump and advisors should have known their history and learn to compromise. Unfortunately with Trumps chaotic mind and ready to fight someone I don't see compromise in their learning ability. They keep governing with their same old failed policies.
26
Am I mistaken when I say that the biggest pork producer, in the U.S., is Smithfield, owned by the Chinese? If there anything funny about this?
13
So tariffs are going to destroy the U.S. economy but whatever the Chinese do to retaliate will hurt us but somehow won't hurt them too? The economic heat goes both ways and it usually burns deeper the side that NEEDS the unfair conditions in order to be competitive. So maybe tariffs on pork will hurt Iowa farmers, but so will they hurt the billion Chinese for whom pork is a primary staple in their diets. In the end I hope the president has the resolve to keep pushing for what is fair and what this country needs to be competitive in the long-term.
11
Countries exempt from the Chinese tariff on US pork will gain market share.
3
Mr.Trump is , as usual, putting the United States in a no win situation.The Chinese are restricting pork imports which will hurt farmers who largely supported Trump. He is, in addition , alienating the Chinese who can help with the negotiations with the North Koreans.With his off-the-cuff trade policy he is hurting America at home and putting it at peril in negotiations abroad.
19
“Bullying” as a foreign policy only has a one-time shot—as soon as you back down, it will no longer work.
A major disadvantage of a “threat policy” (we need some-thing better than a “playground” word for American Foreign Policy) is that opponents who don’t back down, will retaliate economically against Trump’s political base.
In putting his ego ahead of country, Trump tends to lose what he values most—his own self-interest.
13
Yet another demonstration of American arrogance, which, in addition to the imposition of tariffs to offset a deficit caused by its own lack of domestic savings, now a politician is sent to Beijing to exercise its effrontery trying to bind trade with that worn-out idle talk of 'lack of human rights'.
This insolence should only serve as a motivation for China not to fade in the face of this trade war that the US president had said it is easy to win. And since the target is China, after all, Western trade imposition on China only reminds us the pre-Opium War period. Hope the Chinese authorities never forget that since the current trend fanned by the Chinese government is about to bring back China's so-called 'glorious days'
4
China has broken the rules ever since they joined the WTO - its estimated they steal over $500 Billion worth of IP from western countries EVERY YEAR! Politifact checked this estimate in 2016 (then it was $360 Billion):
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2016/may/17/newt-gingric...
By bringing up China's century of humiliation as a justification for their rampant trade abuses you only add further proof that China will stop at nothing to achieve dominance. Two of China's neighbors Japan and South Korea worked hard at research and development of their technology and they were reaped the long term rewards.
China, on the other hand, chose to lie, cheat, and steal their way to technological prowess and they can only keep succeeding if they continue stealing. They have woefully lagged in their own research and development , so why should they invest when they can just steal IP through forced technology transfers with Western and other E. Asian tech companies?
Notice, nothing on soybeans. This is kabuki theatre. The real issue is China's continued theft of intellectual property. There was only one way that Trump was going to get their attention. This will settle down to a more traditional negotiation very soon.
10
The pain in pork will ripple broadly through the agricultural chain, with tragic foreclosures and virulent inflation for Republicans to boast about, along with their sunsetting pittance of a tax break for wage earners. Who knew, the eclipse of the American economy could satisfy such ostentatious patriotism?
4
China must play fair—right now companies doing business there are forced to hand over IP and know how to their local “partners” (who own the technical majority of the interest), who then turn around and “invent” the exact same product, and then a Chinese court rules there is no IP violation.
Think I’m kidding? There are exact copies of BMW’s (sans the logo) driving around in China but of course no intellectual property infringements were found when BMW sued.
So yes, spooky tariffs, but hopefully they will take some business out of China, the world’s largest photocopier.
11
128 masks the millions of other ways in which China blocks foreigners, including people. The Great Wall is not so much a physical structure as a symbol of all Chinese Culture. Chinese can come out, but you cannot go in. US has been on the losing end of a a trade war (flow of people and goods), since 1840 when the first ship of 2000 Chinese arrived in San Francisco(population 105). The Chinese tarrif has always included people. Thus, there have been millions and millions of Chinese-Americans, but 0 American-Chinese. A Chinese person can buy anything they want in America, but you cannot buy property as big as a doll's handkerchief. If you want to invest in China, you must first hand over all technology and data to a Chinese partner. Then start counting the days until the Chinese partner know everything and boots you out of China.
15
Trump is very good at making the rest of the world great, along with his greedy buddies and enablers. The rest of us, not so much.
Making America small, mean, and dangerous.
26
Cut corporate taxes and taxes on real estate developers and impose a tax on consumer goods purchased mostly by low income Americans and force the surviving small to mid sized farmers to sell out to large agribusiness. What could go wrong?
16
Well if trade wars are easy to win according to Donald Trump when is he going to proclaim victory?
11
Trump is bashed daily, but when Stormy told 22 million 60-Minute viewers how she ordered him to drop his pants for a spanking is the ultimate humiliation for "our" president. Because of that Trump only thinks of ways he can get revenge regardless of who it hurts. Whether it be tariffs, Dreamers, guns, pork, or Amazon bashing, Trump relishes revenge. But, we all know what happens when we attempt revenge. Take a look at the drug guy with that look on his face being led away to prison.
11
The President is like a child let loose in the White House to play at being president for awhile. He doesn't listen to nor keeps competent economic and trade advisors. He has no plan...he's just pulling levers to see what happens. Until he becomes bored with it all and leaves our foreign and economic policies in a shambles and leaves for Florida to live in post-presidential opulence. Meanwhile, his "Make America Great Again" cap will have been tossed into the Oval Office trash can to gather the dust of history.
20
I don't share your optimism. I think he has a plan, and it is to help himself and harm others. It's the easy way to hell on earth.
Facilis descensus Averno
Evil, be thou my good (Paradise Lost)
Like Faust, he's sold his soul for gilt.
9
Agreed.
He’s a greedy narcissist.
He does have goals- to enrich and empower himself and his family.
And he will dirty and sully anything and everything to do it.
5
The key question being what threat does China pose to US technological domination; in what way? Taking mobile phones as an example the success of APPLE seems assured. SAMSUNG has more to worry about with HUAWEI coming out of nowhere. Maybe that is the real fear China moving fast; even faster than APPLE? However APPLE in a guaranteed protected position with email crossover advantage interconnected with all their products. In any full-scale trade war how will APPLE respond since all their products are made in China by Taiwanese contractor. If the US so worried about competition from China the sale by FORD of VOLVO cars to GEELY of China now looks positively stupid on hindsight. The US should know that China will win in any trade war because slamming trade doors will end in a real war like the 1930's.
2
China has succeeded by enslaving workers. It is time for all of us to look at how and why we get such cheap goods from China, instead of behaving as if we all live in a vacuum and are entitled to the ruination of other people's lives so that we have cuter electronic goods.
7
Perhaps old products like cell phones is not the issue. China is investing a lot in making their own computer components with the intent of replacing those imported from the US. Of the future, you can be assured that they are designing new components for AI devices and computers. THey have had the fastest super computers in the world. Soon they will do the same without Intel or other US parts.
Switch markets and think about robotic surgery, advanced medicines based on cell biochemistry, etc.
THe future is economic warfare with an ever more powerful (knowledgeable)China.
What will the US be like when the export markets are shared equally with China?
3
Hey Trump is helping corporate America enslave workers here. What do you think the gig economy is all about?
3
I wonder; how is that working for the farmers that voted for Trump?
88
Pork tariffs will definitely make us tighten the belt out here in the plains. That said, we all new it was coming. Consider:
Terry Branstad, U.S. Ambassador to China, is the ex-governor of Iowa, a huge pork production state.
Chinese implement tariffs on pork.
Iowan's cry for help to Mr. Branstad.
Mr. Branstad puts in a call to the Trump Administration and discusses the situation not just as an ambassador but, at least subconsciously, as the ex-governor of a highly impacted state.
It's about as perfect of a political move by the Chinese as you can get in this situation. We'll see if it works.
16
Yes, it's a perfect political move, as was the picture of Xi standing beside Kim and China's current slowdown in buying Treasuries.
I am really tired of watching my retirement funds shuffled off to some hedge fund manager's back pocket while these profiteering con artists are doing financial management with the whole American economy. Ugh.
42
It's time for a 26% tariff on 129 Chinese products.
9
In this case, I think we should call the Chinese bluff, until our trade deficit is gone.
2
We’ll be in recession way before our trade deficit is gone.
6
No. No bluff. The Chinese can grow pigs while The Americans cannot build IPhones.
1
As Trump flails his way around the world it is increasingly clear he has no idea how to manage a 21st Century country. He searches for scenarios that fit his old, slow and pre-conceived notions of the world, most of them dead wrong. Mated with a hidebound and irrelevant Congress, America's role and standing in the world retreats into the shadows just at the time the sun shines on our trading partners and competitors. Strategic alliances are re-forming in real time. He is out of his depth and will do great damage to our country before he shambles from the office he daily defiles.
35
The Chinese have a cohesive, comprehensive plan for economic independence and dominance in raw materials, technology, and the global marketplace. They have clearly-articulated goals, and they obviously have strategies for achieving them as a nation. We don't seem to have any of those things. And now, with a president for life, they have continuity and consistency and no distractions from never-ending presidential campaigns, or a government (like ours) focused on transitioning to oligarchy rather than coming together and getting good work done. In the end, I expect the Chinese and the rest of the world will outmaneuver Trump and his esteemed advisers in this simple and distracting tariff game. In the end, I fear the US will lose.
14
You said: "...And now, with a president for life,..."
PRC does not have a president for life, only the term limit has been removed from the Chinese Constitution, like in Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia... Most western democracies do not have term limits. For example, Canada's longest serving PM was in office for over 21 years. UK's Sir Robert Walpole served over 21 years, under reign of both King George I and II.
Well, okay, I'll give you that, a couple of Canadian and British PMs served almost for life, but those countries are more democratic than USA. :D
4
Thank you for the correction; I needed that!
2
"stay rational and work together to maintain the overall stability of their economic and trade relations.” Lu He.
When has our Pres. been rational?
8
Rather an interesting comment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Not at all the knee jerk anti - Trump rant that one might expect. Could there be some sort of left - right protectionist coalition forming out there? Perhaps the terms " left ", " right " are not very meaningful when it comes to trade policy.
2
It is no secret U.S. president Trump wants and desires inflation. Apparently he is getting his wish. Our main concern is not the economy but his stated desire to get out of Syria. President Trump is ready to surrender to Russia, Iran and Hezbollah and give Syria to them while we and U.S. ally Israel object.
No one forced any company to do business there. US companies sought the cheap labor and the market potential. Senior executives understood the trade offs and consequences . But they wanted the revenue and growth which triggered their bonuses.
11
And so it begins. Another US waged war, this one without bullets.
10
I guess he really is not a master negotiating.
9
When your enemy knows your political base better than you do... Very astute move by China to go after the president's most ardent supporters and throw this segment into turmoil.
My guess is China will continue to import pork produced in North Carolina based, Chinese owned hog farms, without any import tariffs. A good way to cut the legs out from under your competitors, continue to supply the Chinese consumers with pork, undermine a politician trying to intimidate their country and have the upper hand by looking reasonable on the world stage. Strategy versus bombast. Remind me never to play chess with those who take the long view rather than today's Twitter bite...
13
This is the most insane step taken by Trump, which is definitely self destructive. US itself stole technologies from European inventions from industrial revolution and gave patents to whoever copied and pasted exactly the same existing British machine. Everybody wants to acquire new technologies and that is an open secret, and Trump suddenly wants to play that protectionism card is in fact to distract us from America’s internal problems and find foreign scapegoats who have nothing to do with our ongoing strife.
13
Who knew RED China would be such good capitalists, no they don't play by all the rules, what country does?
8
So Iowa, and the rest of farm country including the one I live in, how do you like your president now?
313
You realize don't you that the current ambassador to China is Terry Branstad, the former governor of Iowa? Presumably, Terry understands the impact of tariffs on agricultural products, steel, and aluminum on the State of Iowa and other farming States.
Iowa, when will the U.S.A. be great again?
This time our farmers are victimized by the tantrums of a President.
"Sad"
12
Chinese Humor ?? “We hope that the United States will rescind its measures that violate World Trade Organization rules as quickly as possible,” China has blatantly abused its WTO membership and is the world's worst offender of fair trade policies.
7
This time it's our farmers victimized by our Presidents tantrums.
6
Well this will be interesting. China will find it harder to export plastic garbage to us and we will find it harder to export food to China.
I think I can live without poorly made goods. I suspect the Chinese will find it harder to live without food.
11
@WillT26
There are countries like Argentina, Brazil and Chile and the EU lining up ready to export foodstuff to China. American farmers spent years developing the Chinese market for American agricultural products. Once the market is lost to other countries, it will be very hard for American farmers to get it back. I guess it's karma for the American farmers because many of them voted for Trump.
9
Mexico and Brazil can provide all the pork China needs, and Argentina will be more than happy to supply the wine for example so good luck with that.
1
Except the US isn't the only country that exports food and the US is actually a net food importer. But don't worry -- Mexico and the rest of Latin America have been happily diverting their produce to countries other than the US the last several months due to Trump's provocations about the Wall of silliness. I'm sure they will happily step into the void left by the declines in US pork exports. Play stupid games - win stupid prizes.
5
China is only hurting itself. Let it build all it wants over there with cheap welded seam steel pipe and once they’re all built out and the pipes start bursting and it all has to come down . . . Bite off your nose to spite your face. No truer words were ever spoken.
3
I'm not so sure about your post. Most of our electronics are Chinese made, or at least major components are - including the devices we both used to type these messages. Steel pricing needed adjustment - but tariffs were not the way to go. I fear this will harm multiple sectors of our economy.
3
Yeah, because our roads, highways, bridges, rails, water and sewer systems, are really the very bestest in the whole wide world, ain't they.
1
They have better trains than we do and newer infrastructure.
3
We have all been reminded of the mind processes of our president when he stated prior to China's move adding tariffs on the United States, i.e., OUR, trade when he stated that if China did so he said HE would still win. So it's Trump against China, but who pays the price if he doesn't win? US!
4
Well Pres Trump you are now dealing with someone,China,that has a long term well thought out strategy and can be just as obstinate as you in their own way
Lets see how this works when you are not punching down below your weight class
9
The Chinese did their homework, perhaps the Democrats should take notes.
9
Right, because there are no Americans: it’s China vs. Republicans.
As usual, Trump's way of dealing with the issue was...shall we say...ham-fisted.
6
The Chinese actually thought this through and targeted Trump voters. And they did not announce it on a tweet. Expect Trump to put his tail between his legs and moved on.
8
Aren't Donald Trump's ties and Ivanka's clothing line made in China?
149
He also bought the steel for his buildings from China and had undocumented workers put it up for low wages, which he refused to pay.
How things have changed!
But are clothing items on the tariff's list?
Let's be honest... we did this to ourselves when Americans happily traded away their jobs for cheaper goods. Long gone are the days when a company could succeed based on producing a high quality product, to the point where those born after the 60's no longer even know what quality is. It's now just about being cheaper. Tariff China? It won't change a thing, because we'll just move on to the next poverty stricken low cost supplier. Sort of like trading Cronkite for Hannity.
19
Yes, I recall some of that fine American quality of the 60's and 70's, such as US auto's that came off the factory floor with dozens of defects, that rusted out in 5 years.
4
American cars and electronics built in the 50's and 60's were awful. The expression Japanese junk went out the window the first time Americans viewed a Sony TV or traded in their gas guzzling, rattle box chevy for a Toyota.
11
The Japanese cars of the day were no better... just cheaper.
1
Pork. China has come a long way in a few years, for many all within their life time and it is no exaggeration to say pork consumption is the major marker from meat only on very special occasions to daily bits of pork morning noodles to multiple dishes at diner. Truck loads can be seen in massive transports on the highways pig thick, but more and more come packaged from the beautiful country (mandarin for America). It is a safe bet that few tariffs will be collected for other suppliers are tooling up around the world for sure. And wine comes from France but also Australia and Chile, never seen an American bottle yet. China is playing and they do that well.
4
Stop piglet farming while the barn can be altered to a chicken coop. No more money in porcine ham or feet as the demand( (China) side disappears among rising production cost. Or, sell the land and pickup truck and move to the city and become an urban farmer selling kale from a rain barrel.
4
So irrational. Why would Trump do such a thing?
Oh, yes! That’s right! The blatant Chinese theft of our technology, the one-sided access to their markets, their dumping of products on our markets to destroy our remaining industries, their suppression of freedom of expression in their own country and in ours, their intimidation of dissidents living in our country, and the use of their wealth and military to bully their neighbors — just to name a few reasons.
Weird how none of that was mentioned in this news analysis.
Well, maybe if we don’t push back, China will be nicer...
4
This is standard procedure for China; take a hard line, but then offer to negotiate.
Since Trump sees himself as the great negotiator this would seem to be right up his ally. But so far the master of the Art of the Deal hasn't come up with much.
No deal with Mexico, no deal with Canada, no deal with China and obviously no deal with Russia. We can only hope that we won't be adding North Korea and Iran to this list of success.
5
A far more sensible approach, it would seem to me, to balance our international trade would be to target no trading partner or category of products/services. Grant US exporters $ trade credits that importers of goods/services of any type must buy on a regulated exchange before releasing US $ to pay for those imports. if other nations "retaliate" by doing the same, fine! Who cares?
Do not judge a cake before it is baked. It will not take long for us to see the result of this trade policy. Instead of pre-judging it-let's see how it evolves. Surely China's retaliation was predictable-what is not known is Trump's response.
2
Clearly China has certain restrictive trade policies that need to be dealt with. American imposed unilateral tariffs however are not the answer. The US needs to present its concerns to the WTO where cooperation and multilateral actions by WTO member nations can be taken that would be much more effective against China. This means working and cooperating with other nations. It also means submitting to an open process in determining whether Chinese trade policies are restrictive where China has the opportunity to rebut such accusations. Unluckily these are things the Trump administration refuses to do.
5
“Trade Wars are Easy to Win” does anyone think this is a true statement? No! This trade war will not be easy and it will hurt the very people that voted for the president, along with the rest of us. But, he doesn’t really care and it will show in the end. We have been and should be a global partner but this administration continues to fold in on itself thinking that everyone else will come to us for leadership. We are now a pariah turning our backs on our allies and thinking that “our way or the highway” philosophy will win the day. Could our day as a shining light on the hill be over?
4
Trump should have addressed China's wrong-doings (and there are many) through the WTO (world trade organization) even if it takes time.
By doing an end-around, he's started a trade war that no one can win.
9
Tariffs lead to counter tariffs. And someone is always hurt. The steel industry may be Trump's idea of the perfect victim to help. But in doing so he has hurt the much larger manufacturing industry that has depended on cheaper steel to build their products. And now the Chinese have retaliated with tariffs on pork which will hurt American agriculture which is dependent on the very thing that Trump thinks he will help: exports. The American pork market is totally saturated. Pork is already extremely cheap: now the price will fall even further. It may seem great for consumers, but pork is a major agricultural product in rural America. Trump, as usual, is busy hurting his own voters.
5
The Chinese will not go quietly into the night of economic oblivion. They have profited in the thirty years of wealth transfer mediated by America's multi-national corporations and shareholders. U. S. trade unions have been successfully decimated, as planned. Millennials see no future in labor as there is none left. The generation will not rise to the level of their once working parents.
Chinese emperor-for-life, Xi, will outlast our strutting emperor wannabe. The former is looking on destiny while the latter is looking for fame.
4
My bet is 45 will double down on the tariffs. After all, he believes he is the only one who can "fix things".
4
The blame here is America for years of inaction on trade and now it appears to be a tit for tat game with China. The real victims of these tariffs will be the consumers. Welcome to the $99.00 and up convenience stores.
4
Farmers and growers in Iowa and Indiana are going to feel these tariffs where is really hurts. China included ethanol (corn) and soybeans and they are the largest global purchase of our soybeans. But maybe it was God's plan that US farmers live homeless under a bridge.
172
The second irony is that the Trump Administration ambassador to China is Terry Branstad, former governor of Iowa, who should know exactly what impact the Chinese and the US steel and aluminum tariffs will have on the Iowa economy. The Iowa economy also includes John Deere and other factories.
6
The farmers and growers in the Mid-West will be supported by domestic markets- and by the administration during this trade war and they will be stronger for it. The idea that the US economy must forever be subject to trade vampires is the soul of defeat. We can not support these trade deficits forever. This is a market readjustment-frankly, I think the US can do with less pork-but more steel. It can not survive as a pawn of the Chinese economy. The Chinese can produce all of the pigs and grapes they wish -
1
Corporate farming has already taken over much of the business. Your image of a farmer living under a bridge does not correlate with reality.
1
Trump (hence, “China Slaps Tariffs...”) is what happens when democracy takes a vacation. Americans were fed-up with dysfunction in Congress, so they voted for change (Trump). The alternative was a woman (Clinton) who would have run into the same roadblocks (G.O.P. obstructionism) as Obama. How do we return to a fully functioning government? We need a new generation to get out and vote, and vote, and vote...... Our generation (I'm 57) was apathetic when it came to political activism. We need an electorate, not an army of well paid lobbyists, plugged into the political machine. If not, we have more Trump, and there is only so much of that this democracy can take before it careens into the black hole of irrelevance. Just watch.
191
Most of us voted for anyone but Trump. Trump, unfortunately, won enough selected states to win the electoral votes of an electoral college that failed exercise its constitutionally mandated independent judgment.
2
In 1959, Krushev threatened to bury us as an enemy.
The Soviets failed for the next thirty years.
In 2013, Putin embraced Trump.
That friendship buried us in less than five years.
101
And just how is this making America great again?
By hitting the few U.S. industries that are still somehow viable with new tariffs and burdening American consumers with increased prices on foreign products.
Somebody forgeot to tell Donald Trump the tariff game works both ways.
86
Our farmers will do just what the Chinese do-sell their products to a middleman.In fact arrangements have already been made in many cases.
2
Tariffs are taxes. Taxes are tariffs. No matter what label that you use, it is the consumer who pays. Now, some of Trump's most loyal supporters get to feel the hurt...again. BTW, what tax break? It was so very small, in the first place. But, after tariffs (new taxes), the average taxpayer will in the hole worse than ever.
54
The tit for tat has started. The US still has the economic advantage versus China, but this tariff action by Trump changes the climate. Tariffs will now be seen as an acceptable political tool.
This does not bode well for the global economy, and for continued growth and prosperity. Nor will it help close the income and asset gap, and it is short sighted. Sad!
9
Not very comforting. I fear that our mad emperor's idea of proportionality might include radioactive materials a tit for tat or two down the road.
6
At last a nation prepared to stand up to the ''US first'' The US has the idea that it is the centre of the Universe, that without the US the globe wouldn't turn. If a Middle-Eastern country did this, the US would be threatening invasion and regime change; this is the advantage of having a nuclear deterrent. When Trump said America First he meant every nation last, every nation subservient to the US.
6
"Over recent weeks, China’s state-run news media has condemned the Trump administration’s protectionist steps....."
I wonder, if unlike the US, China's state-run news makes the same type of money that America's Fox State News makes?
That being said here in America we've not even begun to see the negative impact this administration's policies are going to have on our economy. We are facing a very painful economic future.
8
The ultimate revenge from China would be to impose tariffs on the Trump family and Trump campaign made goods.
19
It’s a good thing that trade wars are “easy to win”. It’s not like Trump would ever do anything impulsive.
8
i'm not sure.....did trump realize this would happen? did his advisers advise that other countries might retaliate? or did fox news forget to mention it? ah well. just bloviate away is the American system now. however, trump was right about mexico and the wall. i believe their cheque is in the mail and trump will claim another victory for rationality, common sense. truth, justice and the American way.
8
I believe that Trump started this tariff war solely as a means to try to win the recent Western PA election. He thought he was throwing a bone to the district by putting tariffs on Chinese steel. It backfired on him, and now the country. He is a loose cannon with his personal life, and now with the interests of the USA.
127
I live in Western PA and man you are RIGHT ON.
And it was SO OBVIOUS to everyone.
NOTE TO TRUMP: Western PA does NOT want to return to smelly steel mills and pollution no matter how much you think they want to live in 1950. We want tech jobs, clean fuel ( that's why we LEAD in natural gas production) and education.
We NEED an end to the opiate crisis.
We are smart enough to know that steel mills employ a fraction of the work force they used to, so that hundreds of jobs speech fell flat.
Put the steel mills in Pastor Pence's state. They voted for this clown Trump....PA did too, but we're coming to our senses.
A DEMOCRAT won in W. Pa election.
1
That Congressional district in Western PA doesn't have steel mills anymore, but it does have plenty of elderly folks like my grandfather who need PTs and home health aides. (Think shoulder replacements, knee replacements and Alzheimer's).
I wouldn't be surprised if they get together and call in our debt, or else.
29
If Trumps read anything, they would have known about this situation.
But they seem to have poor memories as well.
When Republicans were worried about the national debt, the fact that China bought it all so that the US would continue buying Chinese exports was a staple of Fox News.
1
It's not exactly "calling in" but something similar. China holds all sorts of fed bonds with varying maturity dates. So, let's say during the year, they take their cash from those binds maturing in 2018 and instead of rolling it over, they find somewhere else to invest. That means the USA has to find someone else to fund the debt meaning a likely rise in interest rates. That tends to pump up the dollar making growing trade deficits all the more likely.
We have a weak president on the wrong side of history engaging, unilaterally, in policy wars that hurt the interests of the United States and the well-being of the world. I wonder what epidemiologists will find in the next fiscal year, and years to come.
6
"Trade wars are good and easy to win" meet "We see the light at the end of the tunnel."
10
There is a simple imbalance that needs to be addressed. China with about 1/7 of the world's population has more than 1/2 of the world's steel production capacity.
1
Who knew starting a trade war could be so complicated?
176
Especially when the dummkopf-in-chief doesn't play by the rules, but expects the other side to do so!
3
Yes - Nobody could have predicted (unless they turned Faux news off and talked with people who actually know something).
2
So the Chinese are threatening a 25 percent tariff on "pork, an important moneymaker, especially in farming regions in states that voted for Mr. Trump."
Economic harm to Trump voters was the foreseeable result of the trade war Trump went out of his way to instigate.
Are they still going to role over, play brain dead, and support him?
362
Yes.
10
Now all the trusting farmers will know the "Normal Genius."
3
"Are they still going to role over, play brain dead, and support him?" Yes!
He will grant them the Evangelical Sharia laws to rule over the rest of us heathens (see first amendment "right" to discriminate in the market place, as exhibited in Walmart vs Cosmopolitan and the wedding cake wars.)
1
The Government of China did its homework well. They picked half of the products which hurt Trump's base and half that would hurt workers who live in states who do not support Trump.
Tariffs do influence elections more than Facebook posts.
5
I doubt anything will dampen Trump supporters as they only hear what they want to hear.
6
If China really wanted to hurt the US, they would slap tariffs on textiles and clothing. What Trump is doing is childhood school recess games but he wants people to think this is big stuff. The US is a huge producer of pork, no harm there.
1
At this point it is difficult to know who will "win" this trade "war". But, as with every war there are real losers and lots of collateral damage. Many Americans will be hurt by Trump's thoughtless behavior. Will the benefits outweigh the losses? That remains to be seen.
2
Ricardo, a contemporary of Adam Smith laid out the rule of comparative advantage in trade in the 1780s. It is something every student learns about in basic Economics classes in university. Wharton grads SHOULD be well versed in such a simple idea that trade is a net benefit to everyone. Tariffs are a net loss to everyone. A freshman studying business or economics should have at least a basic understanding of such a simple idea.
A student of history by the end of freshman year can point to specific instances of tariffs and trade wars doing great harm to the economy. The "practical application" of the theory proves it works. Just like experiments with Keynesian based policy shows the theory works, while experiments in "supply side Laffer curve" voodoo economics show they do not,
It calls to question whether trump's father purchased his degree the same way he annually purchased five fake doctor notes to keep him out of service in the military during the Vietnam war
512
Trump doesnt think. He decides based on his gut. Just like Trump Casinos, Trump airlines, Trump NJ baseball team, Trump vodka, etc, etc, etc. Yes, Trump is running the country like a business, HIS business.
4
Wharton enjoys a wonderful reputation on a global level.
I can only assume the Dean of Wharton cringes every time Trump is mentioned as a so called graduate.
I agree with your supposition that the Trump family bought and paid for all of Trump's degrees- not just the Wharton degree.
5
It almost seems like a given. I can’t imagine any of the trump men earning any degree or diploma through intellect.
1
Liu He, China: "stay rational and work together"
Steve Mnuchin: Oink, oink, oink.
Yet another ready, aim, shoot foot experience with this administration. Oh, and Mexico is going to pay for the wall to be built. April Fools!
11
There are a few good reasons why nations have progressively liberalized trade and avoided import restrictions in the past 80 years. One can simply start by the lessons from the trade wars around the time of the Great Depression and then look at the prosperity in the decades when trade was freer. These are hard facts, everyone loses in a trade war, there is nothing good about them.
6
That there is a need to re-balance our trade with China is a established fact. I don not agree that unilateral move, like the tariffs on steel, is the way to go. I was (and still am) in favor of the TPP where we had a seat on the table of the far east economic zone and could influence China in his backyard.
54
Added to today's article on how Donald Trump's tariffs will affect Iowan farmers, the retaliatory action from China--once enacted--will send shivers through our economy.
I've been surprised that, up to now, nothing the president has done has greatly affected the economy, the last bastion of government that has functioned well despite the chaos of this administration.
Now that the president is bucking advisers and returning to his nationalist agenda, we will see how such policies--not replicated for the past 100 years--play in a modern, post-20th century integrated global economy.
Something has to give--will it be now?
133
The most important commodity China buys from the US is not pork, it's Treasury Bonds. China owns an uncomfortably large portion of our huge national debt. Trump's tax scheme for the wealthy will add even more debt and they better hope the Chinese keep buying. If they choose to quit financing the US, these tariffs will pale by comparison to the damage they can do--and they know it. Trump is clumsily playing with fire and has a weak hand of poker against the Chinese. The Chinese have played him like a fiddle on Korea and Trump handed them a victory by pulling out the TPP. They know quite well how to play the trade game.
933
As many economists have noted, including left-of-center stalwarts Dean Baker and Paul Krugman, the worry about the Chinese ceasing to buy U.S. treasuries is misplaced.
Michael Pettis writes extensively about the Chinese economy and how it fits in with the global financial situation at China Financial Markets. Worth reading IMO.
I do think Trump is being played (easy to do), but the bond thing is a red herring (even if many people sincerely believe the story)
Remember the phrase (needs an update for inflation!) “If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.”
9
19% is hardly a majority stake.
2
Right, Robert. If China decides to stop buying U.S.debt or to take other actions that would hurt U.S. repayment, all but the One Percenters will feel the pain. On another front, this may have ramifications for the 2018 & 2020 elections for Iowa knucklehead Rep. Steve King et al. At least we can hope it will.
3
Wonder who made the biggest campaign contributions to Trump vs those who will now be subject to China's counter-tariffs against the US?
Bet we wouldn't be surprised!
2
technically, this would hurt the Chinese middle class who are already paying a high cost for food.
Wine makers in Australia, EU, South America will reap the growth in share.
In a mid-term cycle, the South, which is a GOP mainstay, will have its constituents suffer some loss of income. May not be a big deal for votes, as the other staple issues of of the South, including Pelosi and Hillary will bring them back to voting as usual.
2
China is becoming a large wine producer itself and will likely become the largest. And don't dismiss it. They have partnered with leading French and other winemaking firms and many Chinese have purchased premier French properties, which allows them to transplant the centuries of know-how back to their Chinese vineyards.
4
What is the value of the Chinese tariffs on US products? The US put tariffs valued at $60 Billion, how much is it the other way around?
2
Problem is, the Chinese goods we import are cheaper than competitors even after the tariffs. In contrast, US commodities were barely competitive before and now they would not be. There are host of other nations that would be able eto supply those commodities cheaper than US. So, net result is US consumers pay more "tax" to their government. US suppliers lose out on their sale. How is this a win-win?
231
McRib is back! I have it on good authority that there is a glut of cheap pork only in the USA! Here in Canada the store shelves are now empty of bacon and even Canadian Bacon is all gone. Thanks for the business but no Canadian Bacon is a terrible price to pay for a tariff war.
2
We get cheep steel and those who manufacture cars or whatever have lower cost so prices are less. Consumer profits, company profits and stock market rises. Trump will undo this. Look at DJ today.
The Trump voter is the loser.
1
To create a win-win environment, you need great leaders.
Do you have that winning leader?
I make it a point to try and AVOID products from China as a general rule - as I've discovered most Chinese made products are of poor quality! Having said that, it is a fact that Most products are Made in China, so at times - there are no choices but to buy China!
43
Apple phones are mostly made in China.
Poor quality indeed.
6
Reality check before nafta the government cont purchase imports with taxs collected workers who lost there jobs in usa. As for china products we freely buy those products knowing it cost american are jobs. Texile is prime example then came computors then came car parts. We dont have the mentality to choose because we dont teach kids to use hands. Other then how to tweet,sad
1
If you pick up the US and turn it over, you'll find a "made-in-China" label on the bottom.
8
Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote last week that the most worrying aspect is that there doesn't appear to be a defined goal for success.
"Trump's soundest argument in his election campaign was that he would not waste American lives and treasure in pointless wars of choice," "His launching a trade war would prove, however, to be his economic Afghanistan — costly, open-ended, and fruitless. 'Adam Posen' wrote.
168
The defined goal for success would be Trump’s re-election.
1
"A defined goal for success"?
There are no goals or wins in a trade war!
3
Trade reforms are in order but not such a blanket response. Between this and Trump's tax reform, and an exploding retirement generation right around the corner, we are headed into a severe recession.
202
Just one more way to diminish the USA on the World stage......major US recession....
What does Trump care? He and daughter, Ivanka, got their trade pattens (more than 33) from China last year.
Plus.....they’ll be living (safely) in Russia by that time...... Da?
2
No,no,no,no,no!
Trumps tariffs are just the start of the fight.
You bring a knife to the fight,they bring a gun.
The "blanket response" is just the beginning.
Trump doesn't play "nice, nice", why should the Chinese!
2
There is really little international oversight as to trade practices and intellectual property. Yes lets stop China from dumping steel in the US but not Canada or Mexico who dumps way more. One wonders what the tariffs will cost American consumers and workers. Boeing's latest planes are 81% steel and aluminium. An increase of US steel and aluminium manufacturers will increase the costs of those metals. Loss of cheaper metal sources will cost Boeing more and hurt them in competition with overseas plane manufacturers meaning jobs.
13
The U.S. has a positive interest in both Canada and Mexico prospering and trading with the U.S. The U.S. increasingly has an interest in containing China's global expansion (e.g. Africa, Western Pacific).
4
To JD Sept,
Canada does not dump steel in the U.S. We export about 40% of our steel production to you. Your country exports about the same amount of U.S. steel to Canada.
7
jjdsept....and yet canada buys more steel from the usa than the usa buys from Canada.
and, believe it or not, the usa isn't tariff free nor is it innocent of protecting its own companies at the expense of countries.
be nice to a story showing it's not always poor itsy bitsy 'merica being picked on by the other 200+ countries on the face of the earth.
4
I think this is a good thing. China steals our products, hacks into our government and companies, erects trade barriers, causes trouble around the world, treats their own people badly. China is not our friend, and in truth is not a friend to anyone except China. I think there is about a 40% chance we will have an armed incident with China in the next 10 years (I'm not the only one, the Navy is not moving their aircraft carriers to the Pacific because they think China is our next best friend). The sooner we move our business away from China the better we will be. Let us do business with people who want to be our friend.
Trump may be slapping at China for purely trade reasons but it could have strategic benefits as well.
67
"Let us do business with people who want to be our friend".
And who might that be? According to Trump, we don't have any. All countries are taking advantage of The United States of America and we must protect ourselves. Not so much!
11
China is our friend. Friends can disagree without going to war. China, post WW2 has very little history of getting involved in foreign military adventures.
If we have a conflict over trade there is a legal format to deal with it. It's called the WTO. The USA was instrumental in creating.
The rantings of a nuclear armed US President who can destroy the livelihoods of literally a billion people both here and around the globe because he's acting on something he saw on Fox and Friends one morning is destabilizing. There is nothing strategic about it. Make the case at the WTO and go to Congress and make the case to the American people.
8
"...the Navy is not moving their aircraft carriers to the Pacific because they think China is our next best friend"
Five out of eleven US aircraft carriers are already based in the Pacific. The remaining six, based in Norfolk, are used for duty not only in the Atlantic but in the Indian Ocean (including the Arabian Sea). And in case of emergent contingencies, these can steam to the Pacific.
As our Navy's admirals are well aware, major rebasing of our surface fleet may be perceived as provocative to nations in the region. Rebasing costs big money and reallocation of resources. It stretches the huge logistics tails required to keep carriers supplied and properly maintained. Suitable western Pacific ports for aircraft carriers, like Yokosuka, Japan, may not be open to basing more American ships.
These factors, rather than the Navy thinking that "China is our next best friend," explains why the Navy is not rebasing our aircraft carriers.
2
The marketplace absolutely needs corrections and they are long overdue. One problem is that these necessities have been allowed to fester like an open wound and draw rancor for a long time. The Chinese call for rational response and dialogue is disingenuous when for years they were asked to sit down at the table to play by the rules and deal, as Vice President Biden implored them to do, and they refused. Trump didn't start this trade war. The Chinese did just after the time they were granted the privilege to join WTO, in 2001, and began their huge tariff policies on American products. As a business owner in China, for more than 17 years beginning after my arrival there in 1999, I can certainly authenticate these facts. China and America are the architects of their own predicament-America by its inaction and China by its actions.
236
Why did you establish a business there? Could you enlighten the rest of us as to what was it that made that proposition so attractive to you in the first place? Thanks.
4
I hope China adds in Harley Davidson products and Kentucky bourbon to maybe, just maybe, get the attention of those slackers, Ryan and McConnell.
1
China did sit down and negotiate with most of the Pacific rim countries. They even agreed to allow labor unions to operate freely in China. It was called TPP. Trump trashed it as part of his "destroy all things Obama" policy.
2
Tariffs are hidden taxes paid by consumers ultimately. Trump's logic is that as long as taxes are hidden they are OK and even better, as long as they aren't paid by his friends or himself.
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Rich:
You are correct that "tariffs are hidden taxes paid by consumers".
But that's not the whole story, because cheap goods from China are a left pocket/right pocket issue.
On one hand, we save money on Chinese products. Yet this savings is offset by the cost to taxpayers to pay for food, shelter, health care, education, etc. for unemployed U.S. workers.
I would rather pay a somewhat higher price to keep a U.S. worker employed.
19
Very true hence little opposition to the sin taxes on booze beer and cigs. Or the numerous taxes on renting a hotel room.
1
Exactly instead of considering fair, non onerous tariffs on de facto slave labor countries like India, Vietnam and Mexico re loss of blue collar jobs, he picks on western countries or China which are not the biggest offender.
Why did he do this? because he and Ivanka's trinkets are made in countries like India not China. Trump's family moves their factories from China to India because China started to pay more fairer wages.
If you think he is gonna bring back those jobs from India, I have a bridge I want to sell you up here.
4