P!
I’m trying to see where the US has any leverage whatsoever in this dispute. The only possible element has to be threats to default, but I’d think that would have far worse consequences for us than for the Chinese. Guess I’ll have to wait for an adult to write an opinion piece on this topic (someone like Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams, for instance).
>> This time the U.S. will be very aggressive
No, Uncle Hu will threaten to cut off Uncle Sam’s sugar supply and Bambi will back off.
and American government is completely grid-locked by politics (thus can’t do much for the domestic economy).
He means can’t do much TO the domestic economy.
We are not defeated exactly, but we do not have a lot of leverage to demand anything of the Chinese. All they have to do is sell the paper they hold all of a sudden and its gonna hurt.
If we could do it I am all for throwing a scare into the ChiComs by making it clear that on any given day we could decide that they’ve just made their last shipment to WalMart.
It would also no doubt earn Obama a lot of populist brownie points from people who have lost jobs in manufacturing.
Unfortunately you need to do some strategic planning if you are going to cut off a specific source country at the knees, and we are woefully unprepared for that. We should have been encouraging retailers to diversify their supply lines for years, and preparing to at least save some of the infrastructure needed for domestic manufacturing. We have not done this, and hence I think the ChiComs know that we would be bluffing.
Considering what we're not allowed to produce (coal, natural gas, oil, refined products, etc...) what do they suggest we export, Community Organization?
If Zero is foolish enuff to start a trade war with China WE will be crushed.
Just from the title - uhm, NO.
China will cash in the TRILLIONS of debt the US owes, and we’re all spending Mandarin.
Obama ain’t got a dog in that hunt - he WANTS us to speak Mandarin.