I really, really dislike tariffs; however, China has much more to lose than the USA in a trade war, so I think Mr. Trump’s tactic is a good one.
There is no free trade, never has been, never will.
In fact, Trump’s tactic is meant to get us closer to that mythical notion of “Free Trade”.
The only way to respond to tariffs, trade barriers, and IP theft (Which China has all 3 on US products) is in kind. These are long overdue. We also should have a tariff to level out minimum wage, environmental and other regulatory laws. Penalizing US production for laws we demand they adhere to only hurts US workers.
I LOVE tariffs.
George Washington LOVED tariffs.
Karl Marx HATED tariffs and advocated “free trade”.
China has much more to lose than the USA in a trade war
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That is the bottom line. There was a huge bankruptcy in China this week. And this is just one of many as discussed in the article below. China is playing a weak hand.
Trump doesn’t like tariffs either, which is why he offered the G7 no tariffs, no trade barriers, and no subsidies.
Why wouldn’t they take that offer?
Its immoral what the US government has done to its people - debasing the currency, and over taxing and over regulating its manufacturing base, while giving nations like China access to our markets who do not have similar tax and regulatory burdens.
Those fundamental inequities need to be addressed - tariffs may be the only leverage we have over foriegn nations but we need to address our own problems at the same time.
Trump seems to be pushing in the right direction with tax and regulatory reform and with misbehavior of our trading partners, but the federal reserve remains the elephant in the room.