Tarriffs to protect who when there is no manfacturing to talk about?

 Those tariffs may work if the USA had the manufacturing bases that needed protection, which tariffs are expected to do. But manufacturing in the USA is still far off and just an Indian pipe dream. Who is going to provide the alternative to China to stuff the shelves of Walmart and the warehouses of Amazon?

They want China to foot the tariff increases and trying their luck. Sure, the Chinese can just increase the prices of their products to cover those tariffs, which will still be far cheaper than what could be imported from the EU, UK, Canada, Japan and anywhere else on earth. Who will still have to foot the bill and bear the pain? Not the Chinese manufacturers by a long shot, who may export less to the USA, but more to the Global South. In fact, that is now happening.

At the end of the day, the tariffs will hurt USA consumers by hook or by crook, whether Chinese manufacturers absorb those tariffs or not, which they will not do by logic. Who gets trapped is still not certain.

Anonymous

China and Russia will help in the rise of Africa

 Putin is too smart to fall for Trump's ploy to pry Russia away from China. On the contrary, Wang Yi just went to Moscow and the message from him and Lavrov is clear, which is to consolidate their alliance in the face of all the grandstanding by the USA, UK, Germany and France.

Russia just announced the recruitment of another 160,000 troops to counter NATO's move. In the face of the imminent failure of the peace deal, Trump is said to be angry with Putin for denying him the chance of garnering the Nobel Peace Prize, LOL.

We can understand why the Anglo-Saxon Whites are demonizing China building infrastructures and giving cheap loans to help Africa. The Whites do not want the Africans to progress, intend to keep them poor and dependent on help from their former colonizers via their debt trappers, the IMF and World Bank. China's involvement in Africa threw a spanner in the evil agenda of the Whites. The Africans have grown wiser, seeing the rise of China against all odds. If China can do it, why not them? Wise African leaders are now uniting Africa, though Western funded African dictators are still caught on the hook of the Whites.

Africa has the best opportunity to move forward in a multi-polar world, not in a world dominated by the USA and the Anglo-Saxon Whites. For centuries they have been under the yolk of colonization and have seen no progress and no sensible development other than seeing the exploitation of Africa's resources to enrich the Anglo-Saxon countries.

Anonymous

Dump Trump leading dumb Americans

 I woke up this morning and had a good laugh about Trump imposing tariffs on an Australian uninhabited island that had been targeted for fictitious and nonexistent exports to the USA. This is the kind of intelligence that we are witnessing inside the workings of the Trump administration. They are working blindfolded, just like their man-child Commander-in-Chief aka Commander-in-Cheat.

What the whole world can do about those tariffs is just continue business as usual, let the USA importers pay for their imports with the tariffs added and pass those price increases on to USA consumers. There is no need for countries to retaliate, as the USA importers are doing the retaliation on behalf of manufacturers by increasing prices for products they imported. Suffice to say, there is a growing alternative market besides exporting to the USA as in the past. BRICS and the Global South are avenues to switch exports to, with countries still making the same products, at the same cost, selling at the same price and making the same profit. The USA is a small market compared to the several billion population in BRICS and the Global South. It is losing relevance faster than expected.

Many leaders have now realized that the USA market is no longer their future and are looking elsewhere to trade with. Canada is looking towards the EU and also looking towards China. Even egoistic India, USA colonies Japan and South Korea are now realizing that their future economic survival is tied to closing ranks with China. Being close allies and acting as proxies for the USA to counter China holds no strategic advantage and getting targeted as much as those unfriendly towards the USA, which has perhaps now woken them up.

The comment by some political watchers is that China has set a trap, and the USA has fallen into it, which is becoming a reality. All these tariff measures of Trump are meant to target Chinese investments in countries outside China. But targeting them forced the USA to fall into the China trap. It is alienating friends and foes alike and pushing them into the arms of China, like India, Japan and South Korea.

The USA can close its doors to the outside world, which is a blessing in disguise for humanity. Go, Donny, go!

Anonymous

Trump is a juvenile in world politics

 Dr David Oualaalou on his Youtube site pointed out that Trump does even know how geopolitics work, touching on his comparison of Trump with Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov, two of the most seasoned and experience men in the geopolitical arena. Comparing them with what we see of leaders now running the USA, it is like comparing adults with juvenile kids.

I would say that it is an understatement about Trump being a novice when dealing with geopolitics, with due respect to Dr. Oualaalou. Trump is just a bull in a China shop, bulldozing his way into satisfying his narcissistic ignorant ego. Trump came across the word 'tariff' and immediately calling it a beautiful word he discovered at age 78, as if it is something new but unfortunately turns out that he does not know how tariffs are supposed to work.

The irony is raising tariffs against everyone and everything on the pretext of protecting USA manufacturing is just plain nonsense, when the USA does not produce anything worth exporting except weapons or even consumer goods cheap enough for the rest of the world to buy. The USA just wants to force countries to buy expensive USA goods using tariffs, to allow it to continue to export its inflation globally. It is not going to work.

Furthermore, Trump is again gloating about making the USA rich again with his tariffs, but for whose benefit. As an added tax for USA consumers, making them rich is just plain hogwash and the added tariffs will just add more money to the treasury to allow Trump to cut taxes for the super-rich, reported to be about US$4 trillion. Trump has to find the funding to do that, now with countries ditching USA Treasuries and not buying USA debts. Yes, some people will be enriched by those tariffs, but not the common consumers footing the bill.

Anonymous

Would Singapore support America's takeover of Greenland in principle?

 Trump declared to the whole world, I will take Gaza, I will annex Greenland, I will invade Panama, I will make Canada the 51st state of USA, Mexico would be next. What are these aggressive remarks meant in international law, in international principles on state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity?

These are arrogant violations of international laws and principles only rogues, gangsters and expansionist imperialist states would dare to utter and to want to execute. They affect the indepedence and well being of all nation states, big and small. Canada and Mexico are not small countries but under threats of aggression and seizure from the evil terrorist state of America.

What did the UN say on this? Did the UN say anything or lost its balls? What about principled Singapore, so happy to scream and yell at any violation of international laws and principles, even sanctioning Russia unilaterally without consultation with ASEAN and taking a position that ASEAN countries would not take?

Did Singapore stand up to howl and scoff at the blatant aggressive stance of the evil American Empire against the interests of small states and independent nation? Channel News America did not utter a word. I presume Singapore has no stand or refuse to take position on the aggressive American rogue behaviour, or quietly went to tell the Americans, hey, this is not right, or actually say nothing at all?

And what was the basis of the American terrorists in wanting to take over these independent states? Oh, it is in the interests of the USA's national security. If these states were to be taken over by China or Russia, then they would pose a threat to America. So it is better for America to take them over as part of the American Empire. How many people or leaders believe or subscribe to this rogue logic? This is evil Americans' force is right Rules Based Order in practice. It is based on rules written by the terrorist Americans, not based on international laws and principles.

How many silly leaders still believe that the American terrorists are for peace, respect sovereignty and independence of nation states, respect international laws and principles?