Trump now saying he'd 'rather not' impose tariffs on China, after making it a key pledge during his campaign. I think even he knows that imposing tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the US is going to whack up prices for US consumers and people would soon turn against him when they are paying even more for goods, when he's promised to bring prices down. He also knows that Jinping has a lot of leverage with Russia, and he's going to need him onside if he wants to get Putin and Zelensky to make a deal to end the war in Ukraine. Trump uses a lot of bluster and guff to try and frighten people into bending to his ways, but the reality of the world is that China is at least as big a player on the world stage as the US now and he will have to cede to world affairs that are bigger than him Make China great again.
Maybe someone pointed out to him that it’s not a good idea to start a trade war with a country that owns $850 billion of US debt. Wait til they tell him that Russia couldn’t care less about sanctions, which they’ve been getting round for years anyway.
Of course he doesnt WANT to impose tariffs on China, thats just something he will do if they dont play ball. The question is, whether he is prepared to do it, if they dont bend the knee. You are right, it will increase the prices for US customers which is why he would rather not, but the US is a big market for Chinese manufacturing companies Its like a game of chicken. My feeling is, unfortunately, that Trump will cave first to pressure from the US populace, since the chinese government does what it wants and if their people complain they get sent to a concentration camp. Also Trump has political opponents in the West who will use this for political points where as the Chinese government just kill their political opponents if they make a peep.
I think a lot if it comes down to, as Archers points out, that China own around $850bn of US debt. Also the US has something like a $360bn trade deficit with China. Basically they've got him by the balls.
Also seeing that Republicans are trying to make moves to amend the constitution so that Trump can serve for a 3rd term quelle surprise....
Also, he’s a colossal ****wit, who is full of wind and piss. Which are great qualities for winning elections in the USA, but less useful when it comes to actually being President
Donald John Trump for Nobel peace prize. Away from US domestic issues, Russia says it is open to negotiating nuclear disarmament. Moscow will engage with Washington, but only if the nuclear arsenals of the UK and France are included, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. This follows comments by US President Donald Trump yesterday, where he said he wanted to work towards reducing nuclear arms. Trump suggested that Russia and China might also support scaling back their weapons. Responding to Trump’s remarks, Peskov told TASS: "We are certainly interested in starting the negotiation process as soon as possible." But he also added: "In the current situation, all nuclear capacities need to be taken into account. In particular, it’s impossible to hold a conversation without taking into consideration the nuclear capacities of France and the United Kingdom. The current realities make it necessary."
That would be a hugely protracted set of negotiations to wade through, and of course it would need UK and France, China, Russia and the US on board. But I'm in support of anybody who could achieve a reduction in nuclear arms. Regardless of party allegiances
This has always been my issue with cheap imports. It's all well and good keeping prices low, but it's your own workers/production that suffers as a result. Much like how we in the UK use to employ Eastern European lorry drivers, because we paid them peanuts....well certainly not a minimum wage and kept supermarket prices low as a result. Steel as well, China pumping it out dirty and cheap and our own industries can no longer compete. It just seems to me over the decades, we've been happy to **** over our own Made in Britain for consumerism, the more we consume the more we drive a nail into our own GB coffin. So in short, I agree with Trump in someways. I remember when I use to go to America in the 90's and it mostly American cars, then you saw the imports flooding in over the following decades. Maybe if we consumed less and paid more, we might stop the tide... No chance.
