The Hu Jintao years, 2003–13, saw China’s most tactful exploitation of American openness (and naïveté). Cheap Chinese imports created runaway bilateral trade deficits for the United States. The Confucius Institutes, a network of language schools cum influence agencies, began to take root in American universities and high schools. (Today, there are more than 100 throughout the United States.) Chinese venture capitalists flooded Silicon Valley with money raised in American financial markets — then quietly siphoned off cutting-edge American expertise and injected it into China’s own high-tech hub.
It has been 14 months already since the trade war started. Trump’s statement that “trade wars are easy to win” has proved to be inaccurate. China seems no more willing to negotiate now than in the beginning.
2 Likes
The new NAFTA negotiation was supposed to have wrapped up last year, but it still has to pass Congress. Pelosi just indicated she is not too keen on it in its current form. Talk with the EU hasn’t even started for real. Whatever deal Trump struck with Xi I am sure Congress will find faults in it.
And how come the steel tariff is still on? That hurts American manufacturers with no clear benefits.
At the end of the day tearing down old deals and negotiating new ones is hard work with highly uncertain end results, and that makes tearing down the old TPP all the more foolish.
If you think there’s no progress, then you aren’t paying close enough attention to be discussing it.
1 Like
Lighthizer has pushed hard for an enforcement regime more like those used for punitive economic sanctions – such as those imposed on North Korea or Iran – than a typical trade deal.
“This undermines the core architecture of the deal,” said a Washington-based source with knowledge of the talks.
Both sides are posturing:
The leaks coming out of Trump admin is something to behold. It may as well be Lighthizer sitting down for a formal interview. Wait a minute, he did…
Meanwhile leaks from China:
Sources said President Xi Jinping earlier vetoed extra concessions proposed by his negotiators. “Xi told them ‘I’ll be responsible for all possible consequences’,” one of the sources said.
Futures dropping like a rock.
Trump: China ‘broke the deal’ in trade talks
We see the lap dogs for this administration trying to hide the fact that their POS is a worthless president. While he mumbles jumbles stupidity, he is racking in $ from his hotels, Mar a Lago, and deals with the same Chinese with trademarks authorized in a minute. MAGA! 
$21 Billion wiped out in the stock market. Just this time, last year?
US deficit running 15% higher than a year ago.
Trump tweeted yesterday that “I am very happy with $100 billion a year in tariffs filling up U.S. coffers…great for U.S., not for China”. The fact is that the effect of the tariffs also means that American consumers are paying $100 billion a year in higher prices for consumer goods, which more that wipes out the effects of his tax cuts.
1 Like
Short stocks till he stops tweeting
Good summary of what’s at stake.
https://www.investors.com/news/economy/china-trade-deal-trump-2020-re-election-dow-jones-wavers/
Lousy summary.
Shanghai closed 3% higher. Tomorrow will be interesting.
No one pays anything unless they keep buying Chinese stuff.
We’ve had a 40% run-up since Trump was elected. Nothing wrong with some consolidation and sideways movement for a while. Healthy actually.
1 Like
So the 25% tariff is actually not a big deal? Market is going up everywhere
1 Like