Trump was so angry after China’s trade retaliation that he wanted to double tariffs

CNBC ^ | Published Tue, Sep 3 2019 4:07 PM EDT, Updated Tue, Sep 3 2019 6:02 PM EDT | Kayla Tausche, Jacob Pramuk

[Zhang Fei]

President Donald Trump wanted to double tariff rates on Chinese goods last month after Beijing’s latest retaliation in a boiling trade war before settling on a smaller increase, three sources told CNBC.

The president was outraged after he learned Aug. 23 that China had formalized plans to slap duties on $75 billion in U.S. products in response to new tariffs from Washington on Sept. 1. His initial reaction, communicated to aides on a White House trade call held that day, was to suggest doubling existing tariffs, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer then enlisted multiple CEOs to call the president and warn him about the impact such a move would have on the stock market and the economy.

He settled on a 5% hike in tariff rates on about $550 billion in Chinese products, which he announced in an Aug. 23 tweet after the market close.

In the following days, both Mnuchin and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump’s only regret was not raising tariffs higher.

[Zhang Fei]

Xi's muted response to the tariff hike might be a response to the fact that while Trump has to run for re-election, he's in place until 2020, whereas Xi's rivals can remove him from power anytime. If Trump takes tariffs to 100%, China's economy will crash, and Xi's party rivals might topple him and place him in a gulag somewhere - if he's lucky. This coordinated leak by Trump's men is a warning to Xi Jinping. Whether or not Xi heeds it, he's on notice - if things come to a head, Trump will burn Xi's economic house down around him.

[jospehm20]

Too bad he didn’t do it.

[Does so]

What happened to President Xi’s title, “President for Life?”

[SaveFerris]

ANTI-CHINESE COLLUSION!!!

[mountainlion]

Editorial fiction or fake news? I did not see a source.

[wastedyears]

What sources?

[Mark17]

What happened to President Xi’s title, “President for Life?”

Did that chump say that too? Maybe he got it from Idi Amin Dada, President for life. 😁

[Zhang Fei]

[What happened to President Xi’s title, “President for Life?”]

---

Chinese leaders may not have to stand for elections, but they do get removed by their internal rivals when they are perceived as weak, due to problematic domestic conditions. Not because of any real differences in ideas, but because it’s good to be king, and not being king means being subject to the whims of a perennially paranoid superior who can literally have you killed on command.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Gao#Coup_following_Qin_Shi_Huang’s_death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Yang_of_Sui#Late_reign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Guofeng

If you’re looking strictly at communist countries, there’s also the examples of:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_Muhammad_Taraki#Assassination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu#Death

But I’d argue that *all* communist countries merely replaced absolute dictatorships/monarchies with the fig leaf of Marxim/Leninism - an excuse to gain and retain the royal scepter more than anything else.

Gorbachev was General Secretary for life, but he was removed by Yeltsin, a member of the nomenklatura.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenklatura
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin#University_and_career_in_construction:_1949%E2%80%931955

[nathanbedford]

If Trump takes tariffs to 100%, China's economy will crash

Whose economy will crash?

What will happen when American exports to China, admittedly less than Chinese imports, are cut off? What happens when American domestic companies dependent on importing and selling Chinese imports have no goods to sell? What happens when those nations such as Australia and Brazil go into deep depression because they cannot export to China because China increasingly loses demand for raw materials? What happens to the American economy when the brics countries go into recession, to whom will we export?

What happens to the American economy when the stock market crashes as every indication tells us it will on a total throwdown with China? What happens when the recession which is beginning in Europe intensifies because Europe loses its markets to China and spreads to the rest of the world and ultimately to the United States?

For the record, I believe we are in a economic war for ultimate survival with China, a war that absolutely must be won, but the battle scape is not without dangers and the way to victory is certainly not clear.

One thing does seem clear, the Chinese are determined to wait out the president to see whom will be elected in 2020. I do not understand why the president proclaims victory when it is not actually in hand, he certainly knows, or should know, that the Chinese wrote The Art Of The Deal long before he did.

[metmom]

And just how do they know he was outraged?

Whose opinion is that?

[Zhang Fei]

[One thing does seem clear, the Chinese are determined to wait out the president to see whom will be elected in 2020.]

---

Xi Jinping seems determined. The rest of the Chinese Politburo - nobody knows. One thing’s for sure - the 0.5% of GDP represented by exports to China won’t make that much of a difference to American GDP. That’s why it’s called Gross *Domestic* Product. Apple’s sales to China from Chinese plants don’t count for a lot in that number.

[zeestephen]

Slightly off topic....

Interesting that the Democrats do not attempt to block Trump’s tariffs with federal court injunctions.

I don’t get the sense that American voters are passionately supporting tariffs, so it can’t be that Democrats fear a voter backlash.

Consequently, I conclude that Democrats think tariffs will increase American consumer prices, will negatively impact USA export jobs, and will hurt Trump in the 2020 election.

[Zhang Fei]

[I don’t get the sense that American voters are passionately supporting tariffs, so it can’t be that Democrats fear a voter backlash.]

---

Americans support free trade. But my guess is that they also passionately support tariffs on China, which is the one question pollsters don’t ask, because they prefer to poll against Trump rather than ask relevant questions that might also make Trump look good. The impression is that the Chinese are liars and cheats. If even farmers support tariffs on China, you can bet the average worker, whose job is much more affected by Chinese imports, is not going to be a China dove.

---

https://www.oann.com/poll-farmers-support-tariffs-on-china/
A survey conducted by Iowa State University has found that farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois support President Trump’s tariffs against China. According to the study, nearly 60-percent of respondents in those states expressed support for the ongoing trade war, while 14-percent had neutral feelings on the matter.

[Tigen]

I suspect this is [FAKE NEWS] and Big Don’s Tweet will make them look foolish in 3-2-1
Boom

[deek69]

Are there any news agencies that use on the record news sources with POTUS? I dont recall many (if at all) sources with them.

[zeestephen]

Re: A survey conducted by Iowa State University has found that farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois support President Trump’s tariffs against China.

Not surprising.

Trump and Congress gave them $3 billion in farm subsidies.

[Celtic Conservative]

If they walk into Xi’s office and shoot him, he was “president for life”.

CC

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

“so angry” “outraged” Leftist smears to appeal to their emotionally-driven audience. I’m calling this FAKE NEWS.

[DoodleDawg]

Did the President honestly think that China would not retaliate for his tariffs? It’s a trade war. Each action is going to be met with an opposite reaction.

[zencycler]

Exactly right!