Toward the end this week, we may get a clearer sense of our relationships.
NOT only going into next week, but for the next generation or so.
China and the US.
At issue: T-R-A-D-E.
The Chinese government is publicly calling for flexibility on BOTH sides.
Donald John Trump‘s two biggest demands: 1) a mandatory $100 billion cut in America’s $375 billion annual trade deficit with China [tariffs, tariffs, tariffs]; and, b) curbs on Beijing’s $300 billion plan to bankroll the country’s industrial upgrade into advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, electric cars and commercial aircraft [America telling a communist country “how” to run its economy – am I the only one that finds this ironic?] .
In its most simple terms, it appears to the old lobsterman that Beijing feels its economy has become big enough and resilient enough to “stand up to the United States.”
Trump is about to enter the major leagues!
The Chinese are tough, smart and strong. They play to win and they know how to win.
Trump may be able to con nearly 36% of Americans, but he won’t be able to con the Chinese.
Trump may be able to bully his cabinet members, but he won’t be able to bully the Chinese. He can’t fire them.
And, he can’t find any Chinese leaders that work for FOX News to hire.
Chinese officials have reached out to Treasury Secretary Stevie Mnuchin, who has reacted positively to China’s overtures in the auto and financial sectors. Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive who will be on the Trump administration’s team in Beijing later this week, has sought to calm investors in global financial markets, some of whom have been alarmed !!! by the consequences of a trade war for stock prices and economies.
The factory labor economy and coal mines are dead!
Globalism has created a world where inexpensive goods and services freely flow across boarders to the benefit of ALL.
Bear this in mind: If it comes to a trade war, the Chinese will have The Weave for lunch.
How & why: US exports will lose their largest market [1.4 Billion human beings]; American farmers/ranchers, builders, auto workers, innovators of ALL ilk, and high-tech industries will be extremely hard hit; American consumers will be paying more for just about EVERYTHING they buy; and, we’ll still be burning coal and puttering around on an ill-run Amtrak while the rest of the world is buying Chinese solar cells, and zooming by on 300-mph bullet trains.
Trump’s history of serial casino “successes” must be kept in mind as he brings his brand of negotiation strategies and his hand-picked cronies to the inscrutable Orient.
Lobster on the Prairie 