Trump is upping his tariffs to 145% on Chinese exports to the USA, claiming that China does not give him respect. What respect is he expecting given his gangster stance and bullying tactics? As they say, respect must be earned and not through use of force or coercion.
Trump wants to force China to respect him by having Xi fly to Washington to negotiate and for him to gloat about China having to kiss his arse too. That China is not bending to his gloating about having to go to Washington soon to pay him due respect is and is making him lose face. Trump should realize that for Xi to refuse his invitation to attend his inauguration is reason enough not to expect Xi to crumble. Other countries can go ahead to kiss Trump's arse and be ridiculed with insults being added to injury. China is not going do that and will fight fire with fire till the end. There is no turning back.
China is just waiting to witness the result of the 145% tariffs and how it will affect USA consumers months down the road after the stockpiles are exhausted, before taking further action. Analyst are saying that there are only two outcomes resulting from those tariffs on China - either the importers absorb the tariffs, which is impossible, or pass them on to consumers, with the latter action being more realistic. That is going to be disastrous, with prices doubling on everything.
China has many cards to play with. In the meantime, Chinese exporters are already looking for new markets to replace the USA, with Bangladesh a good example.
As I said earlier, all the tariffs are just for one purpose on the surface, and that is to punish China and Trump is using that counter for a more insidious agenda. What happens to the rest of the world are just collateral damage for hosting Chinese investments. What is most striking is that Apple has come out publicly to announce that the company will not be making iPhones in the USA. In other words, Apple moving back to USA is not going to happen. That is just Apple, a USA company itself, looking at the prospect of making things in the USA and says a lot about manufacturing moving back to the USA. What about others?
Having said that, some are beginning to see the insidious hand of Trump manipulating the stock market with his actions to benefit the rich and his cronies. His back-and-forth rhetoric and his 90-day tariff pause are just to give him more leverage to cause further turmoil in the stock market for his cronies to make more money.
Anonymous
2 comments:
After rolling back tariffs on laptops and electronics by calling it a reprieve, which most had looked upon as a backtrack and failure by Trump, he is now reported to be going back again to look at what items really to exempt, just to save face amid the confusion. Laptops are laptops and electronic equipment are also electronic equipment by any other name, so what is there to reconsider?
Trump has again reiterated that nobody is going to escape his wonderful tariffs, and he mentioned China in particular. Now, did Xi called him to beg him to exempt laptops and electronic equipment that he needs to mention China in particular as not going to escape as well? Is the mention of China meant to frighten Xi, who is as calm as ever, and now visiting Vietnam Cambodia and Malaysia, unlike the situation in the Trump administration not knowing how to deal with a problem they themselves started.
Chinese manufacturers are just brushing aside the tariff threat and taking them in their stride. They lose a little, but China is playing the long game. That is not the case with the USA consumers though, who will be paying more and possibly even unable to buy any cheaper products as China is now really serious about decoupling completely from the USA, rather than having provocations by the USA over and over again.
And that spells good news for the Global South, with even cheaper products from China to be enjoyed. Would the Global South be calling it a blessing in disguise?
Dotard is really made at Xi for not giving him a call. I think he is going crazy.
Post a Comment