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| The US-China trade war has begun - a shooting war could be next By Harry J. Kazianis | Fox News China hits back at Trump administration's tariffs A trade war broke out Friday between the U.S. and China, when the U.S. imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products and China slapped tariffs on and equal amount of U.S. products. President Trump has said that would prompt the U.S. to impose up to $500 billion in Chinese products. But things could get worse. The deterioration in U.S.-China relations could escalate and turn into a shooting war between two nuclear armed superpowers. In the worst-case scenario, this could result in massive casualties on both sides that could even lead to nuclear war. Some will call such a statement pure hype – and I wish it was. But the facts lead us to a dark place when it comes to our relationship with China, which is becoming less of a partnership and more like a fight between mortal enemies looking to gain any advantage they can over the other … for more, go to http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/06/us-china-trade-war-has-begun-shooting-war-could-be-next.html |
Is there light at Trump’s US-China trade war tunnel?
KUALA LUMPUR (July 2018): As US President Donald Trump continues to rock the global economic order with his US-China trade war agenda, the rest or the world wonders the wisdom of the protracted feud.
It is quite obvious that the trade war is not benefiting the US, but it is also burdening and stressing the American domestic economy.
So, while Trump continues with his trigger-happy tariff and sanction slapping ways, the rest of the world suffers along.
Just what is Trump looking for at the end of the tunnel?
While the rest of the world continues to pick up whatever pieces to alleviate the global economy, here are two news reports that shows the contrasting paths taken by the US and China in the trade war:
"Opinion: Method behind the madness, Trump's trade terrorism
OPINIONS
Einar Tangen
2018-07-07 10:12 GMT+8
Updated 2018-07-07 22:26 GMT+8
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With his latest trade tariffs, Donald Trump has instituted an economic and political war on not just China, but the countries that represent approximately 60 percent of the world's GDP. Trump's battle cry is, "Make America Great Again," but how an economic and political trade war will achieve this is unclear.
The enormity of his economic and political moves has left both pundits and onlookers, at a loss. Those, such as the US Chamber of Commerce, who thought these were just Trumpian negotiating tactics, are now waking to the reality of his worldview and the consequences of his actions.
It would be tempting to dismiss Trump as an economic and political bully, hooligan, terrorist or fascist, as he has been referred to by many. But, it would be a mistake; Trump has both economic and political goals; so there is a method, if not logic, to his madness. Understanding what he is trying to do is essential to fashion an effective response.
So what is the method to his seeming madness, and how will they affect the US, China and the rest of the world?
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| Soybean plants grow in a field near Tiskilwa, Illinois, US on June 19, 2018. A rout in commodities deepened as the threat of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies intensified, hitting markets from steel to soybeans. /VCG Photo |
Trump's goal, get rid of, or minimize, all multilateral trade deals and organizations in favor of a spoke and hub system, which puts the US at the center of favorable bilateral trade agreements with every country on earth. This is seen as the key to maintaining the type of American Exceptionalism, which he and others believe is the key to the world's future.
The only things in his way are his neighbors, allies, competitors and a handful of multilateral organizations, but his first and foremost target is China, a rising power whose economic and political outlook and success he sees as a direct challenge to the Pax Americana.
What are Trump's economic and political goals?
Ninety percent of the tariffs imposed by Trump, were on capital and intermediate goods, everything from refrigeration compressors, ball bearings, aircraft parts, batteries, electrical generators and equipment, industrial ovens and furnaces, train and rail parts to construction equipment. What do these things have in common? They are the machinery and parts used by companies in America to make finished products.
At this point, you may be scratching your head, why would Trump be imposing tariffs on things companies in America need to create products, if he is trying to attack China?
The answer is simple, he wants to decimate China's role in the global supply chain, by making Chinese goods noncompetitive, but by increasing the costs of necessary components from China, Trump is forcing American companies to pay more and thereby affecting their ability to compete with companies from countries, who do not have to pay tariffs.
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| Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on May 31, 2018. Canada is imposing dollar-for-dollar tariff "countermeasures" on up to 16.6 billion US dollars worth of US imports in response to the American decision to make good on its threat of similar tariffs against Canadian-made steel and aluminum./VCG Photo |
Unfortunately, this time, just like during the Great Depression, the economic and social costs will be borne by American businesses and consumers.
Businesses will pay the costs of changing their supply chains and lost competitiveness. Consumers will pay higher prices for goods caused both by tariffs in the short run, and the costs of economic disruption to businesses in the long run.
Unfortunately, while it could hurt China economically, it will not help the US repatriate industries and jobs back to America. The same market pressures that saw US companies move their production to China, the lure of cheap land, construction costs and labor, will simply see any new manufacturing facilities moved to other places, even cheaper than China.
For example, in the US it’s 15 dollars an hour for assembly work, in China, it’s 15 dollars for a day’s wages, in other parts of Asia, it’s 15 dollars for a week’s wages.
As such, it is apparent that Trump's Trade War is not about Making America Great Again by appealing to Americans to be better, smarter and harder working, but an attempt to make America's neighbors, allies and competitors vassals to US economic and political desires, by destroying or subjugating their economies.
Trump and his advisers believe that their trade war is the key to decimating China’s economic and political role in the world and making other countries toe the line. They believe that success would allow the US to force its economic and political will on all lesser powers and thereby extend the US’s political, economic and hegemony. The problem is, attacking your neighbors, allies and competitors, at the same time, is not a winning formula and will encourage them to band together, not cower in fear. Further, making your consumers and businesses pay the cost of your windmill jousting will, in the end, be a political deadfall, but it is not clear that Trump sees beyond his own ambition and ego.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” If the rest of the powers do not protect the economic and political mechanisms like the UN and the WTO, the world as we know it will dissolve taking with it the gains of the past 17 years.
Countries, if they value their independence and prosperity, must put aside their differences and start recognizing what they value and coordinate their response to Trump, or as said be prepared to “hang alone”.
The way forward offers a stark choice, either economic and political subjugation under and aging hegemon, or a multilateral economic and political system, which use trade and political bodies to reach consensus.
Copyright © 2018
China to keep opening markets: Premier Li
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| Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has told a forum that free trade needs to be upheld. Source: AAP |
UpdatedUpdated 14 hours ago
China will stick to the path of opening its markets and other reforms that have lifted its growth, Premier Li Keqiang says, a day after the Washington and Beijing slapped tariffs on $US34 billion ($A46 billion) worth of each others' imports.
China will open its door wider to foreign products as free trade needs to be firmly upheld to ensure sustained global economic growth, Li told a summit of eastern European leaders in Sofia on Saturday.
"For foreign products which meet Chinese consumer needs, we would open the door wider... We would lower overall import tariffs to the Chinese market," he said through an interpreter, without going into details.
Li said economic reform had played a critical role in China's growth, and that the fundamentals underpinning it remained unchanged.
"Opening up has been a key driver of China's reform agenda so we will continue to open wider to the world, including widening market access for foreign investors," he said.
Beijing earlier accused Washington of triggering the "largest-scale trade war". US duties on a range of Chinese imported goods took effect on Friday and were immediately countered by measures from China.
Neither side gave any sign of willingness to start talks aimed at a reaching a truce, though Li said on Friday that a trade war was never a solution and no one would gain from it.
The trade dispute has roiled share, currency and commodity markets in recent weeks.
President Donald Trump is already threatening additional rounds of tariffs, possibly targeting more than $US500 billion ($A673 billion) worth of Chinese goods, about the total amount of US imports from China last year.
China lodged a case with the World Trade Organisation against the US, its commerce ministry said on Friday.
China's tariff list is heavy on agricultural goods such as soybeans, sorghum and cotton, threatening US farmers in states that backed Trump in the 2016 US election, such as Texas and Iowa.
Source: AAP - SBS"
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| By ANTHONY MIRHAYDARI MONEYWATCH July 6, 2018, 11:29 AM Is President Trump already winning the trade war with China? Last Updated Jul 7, 2018 11:19 AM EDT After months of threats and gamesmanship, President Trump's tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese industrial imports took effect a minute after midnight Friday. It's the latest in a line of protectionism aimed at the U.S. trade deficit with China, which rose about 8% last year to a record $375.2 billion, and includes tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum as well as items like washing machines and solar panels. And much more has been threatened. Mr. Trump said on Thursday that another $16 billion worth of tariffs against China are coming in two weeks -- and U.S. total alone could reach $550 billion in the next few months. The actions appear to be having the intended effect, if at the cost of pushing up inflation (prices for washing machine in the U.S. have spiked 16% in recent months, for example). The U.S. trade imbalance with China in May totaled $43.1 billion, down from the $47.2 billion posted in March; it's the smallest monthly deficit since October 2016 and caps the largest three-month reduction in 10 years. China responded early Friday with its own tariffs on a $34 billion range of American goods including soybeans and pork. The risk now is that the tit-for-tat that marked the verbal standoff will translate into escalation in action, as each side tries to one-up the other … for more, go to https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-trade-war-with-u-s-is-president-trump-already-winning-the-tariff-fight/ |
trade war has made a huge impact on world economic growth. Most of the Asian countries will show a slow down in there GDP growth as the tax seems higher on import and export .
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