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On Jan. 16, 2018, President Trump called his counterpart in China and complained about the lopsided U.S.-China trade relationship. Judging from the transcript of the telephone call, Trump still harbored hope that he could achieve some progress on the trade issue via dialogues with the Chinese leadership. Yet Beijing continues to see that as a sign of weakness and will not change its course. Such ineffective communications will eventually lead to an outcome unimaginable to all.
What to do? Shut trade down. We don’t need them. Read last week here on FR that we are actually giving them foreign aid! Ridiculous.
How bout just make our tariffs equal to China’s tariffs for electronic components on imported electronic assemblies?
I would like to see a rule that removes tariffs and any other charge for imported products that undergo final assembly and packaging here in the US.
Trump can solve the trade problem with one act: Require that any nation importing goods to the United States must be certified to meet U.S. industrial standards commensurate with their local economies. That means safety standards, child labor standards, wage standards, and the whole gamut of rules and regulations levied on American companies. This would have several effects: Nations that work to meet those standards would get an edge in the American marketplace (bye bye, China), wealth created by trade with American would be more widely distributed, and foreign works would see an improvement in their wages and working conditions (and might even be grateful to the U.S.—imagine that!). That’s a thumbnail thought.
Trump doesn’t need advice