China has called Trump's bluff and is now playing hardball. By devaluing their currency, they have made their exports cheaper and their imports more expensive. So even with the Trump tariffs - of which China is not paying a dime, despite Trump's willful ignorance about how tariffs work - Chinese goods become less expensive for American consumers while American goods become more expensive for the Chinese. The same dynamic affects every other trading partner China has, such as the EU, but that's collateral damage because the target of their move was the US.
China has already instructed state-owned agencies to stop buying American agricultural products, which is going to further cripple the American farmers who are already suffering under the effects of the trade war.
Remember when we were told that a trade war was easy to win? Nobody wins a trade war.
Trump's trade policy is an unmitigated disaster so far - he thinks he knows more than anyone else about everything and won't listen to his economic advisers. That booming economy he likes to take full credit for? What are the odds that he will take responsibility when it tanks because of his policies?
The most dangerous person to be in a position of authority - the one who makes the final decisions - is the one who doesn't know what he doesn't know and won't listen to advice from those who DO know. That, folks, is our current POTUS. |
