Is there anyone who didn't see this coming? Trump puts 25% tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods, China puts 25% tariff on $50 billion of American goods. http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/04/news/economy/china-tariffs-us-goods-soybeans/index.html Do all those soybean farmers who voted for Trump still support him? Hmmmm. It will be really interesting to see how this trade war pans out. I suspect the effects of this trade war might start to be felt before the mid-term elections. Whether that helps or hurts Trump and the Republicans remains to be seen. I am also wondering how Trump's very leftist policy of tariffs will be spun by the Republican seeking a seat in Congress. Will they support this leftist policy? Are we seeing the Republicans take a policy swing to the left (at least on this issue) or is only the president swinging left?
China has been freezing out the US or excessively limiting our access to their markets for decades, if we do nothing we will just be exploited for decades to come. Its about time someone did something. No more 'favored nation status', the imbalance must be addressed, and there is no way to do that without causing a few ripples. If tariffs were a lefty thing, how come Obama didn't implement them? Oh right, its a lefty thing in order to try and confuse and obscure the issue. The unions supported the tariffs on steel and aluminum, you progs should be more concerned about that...
I actually agree with you on the first part. I am not concerned about a trade deficit per se - I am more concerned about the lack of equality in market access. If market access were truly equal and there were a trade imbalance, I wouldn't be massively concerned. I think the focus should be on equal market access and protection of IP rights, rather than on protecting specific American industries. Tariff for industrial protection are a lefty thing. I guess Obama was not as lefty as you think he was. And Trump is more lefty than you think. Actually, a lot of Trump supporters who like tariffs are going to be crying and wetting their pants at the realisation (that they will never admit) that they are supporting a leftist policy.
You would think you could trust a real estate investor from Manhattan who lives in a gold apartment and hosts a reality show. Go figure.
Why did Obama grow insurance companies instead of creating a single payer option to compete with them? Why did he funnel billions in bailouts and stimulus to large corporations instead of people? Oh, right he is a corporatist.
China's tariffs on our goods hurt them more than us just as the tariffs we're supporting hurt us more than them. When somebody places tariffs they hurt their consumers and businesses who rely on imported good. We're at near full employment. How the hell does a trade war make any sense now? This idea that China is winning in trade against us is a giant myth. Just ask Japan in the 80's how their massive trade surplus against us turned out. They ended up selling back all our assets on the cheap. Technological advances have way more to do with the decline of our manufacturing employment than trade.
No kidding. Trump is a complete MORON for starting this Tariff War. Donald Trump? And people actually voted for that RAGING IMBECILE? :smfh:
People might think China has the economic power over us, but if there's one thing about Trump it's that he believes the people who are shelling out the cash have even more power than they think. China has far more to lose than we do and Trump knows it. This is him just being a businessman and not a politician.
The problem is that trump is a drooling buffoon who has no idea what he’s doing. He simply has no grasp of which levers to pull. He’s an idiot.
It's a game of who will blink first and the left is ready to surrender. It's just like when Reid said we'd lost the war in Afghanistan but this time they are ready to capitulate to China.
He did a pretty good job defeating ISIS. Remember when Obama was president and we were treated to constant videos of mass beheadings and bombs blowing up US troops? Trump ended that.
Who's a SJW? There are only 2 types of people commenting here: those that understand free trade and those that don't.
