Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on Chinese imports on Thursday, a White House official said, in a move aimed at curbing theft of U.S. technology that is likely to trigger retaliation from Beijing and stoke fears of a global trade war. There was no indication of the size and the scope of tariffs, which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday would target China’s high technology sector and which could also include restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States. Other sectors like apparel could also be hit. “Tomorrow the president will announce the actions...

China will open up its economy further, and its door to the outside will only get wider, with foreign and domestic firms allowed to compete on an equal footing, Premier Li Keqiang said at the close the country's annual parliament session on Tuesday. The familiar-sounding pledges from Beijing came as the prospect of a global trade war loomed in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump imposition of hefty import tariffs on steel and aluminum earlier this month. (please see link, for full article)

Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday that China doesn’t want to see a “trade war” with the United States and hopes to reach a negotiated settlement of disputes. Speaking at a nationally televised news conference, Li said rash action would hurt all sides. He made no mention of a possible Chinese response to any increase in U.S. import controls. Beijing faces mounting pressure from the government of U.S. President Donald Trump over complaints it hampers access to its markets, pressures foreign companies to hand over technology and is flooding foreign markets with unfairly low-priced steel and other goods. That has prompted...

Shapiro claims that I favor “total state control of the economy” because I think it is possible to “simply pick the best industries and subsidize them.” Apparently, tariffs are Communism, and I am Stalin. . . Shapiro has it entirely backward: tariffs are the form of taxation most consistent with small government. . . tariffs are antithetical to big government because they preclude socialism. How? Tariffs make imports expensive. This encourages domestic production and discourages offshoring—thereby boosting demand for American labor. Basically, tariffs create stable jobs and increase wages for American workers... The key to solving this puzzle is recognizing...

President Trump’s practice of staking out extreme positions on trade as a negotiating tactic is a sign of his brilliance. Or so we’re told. But that theory took on water last week, when Mr. Trump had to backtrack on a promise to hit Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum, without any concessions from either Mexico City or Ottawa. To understand the change of heart, take the list of products slated for a new Trump tariff on steel and total the value of those same products exported by U.S. producers. You will...

WASHINGTON—Forty-five trade associations, representing a wide swath of the U.S. economy, are petitioning the Trump administration to halt plans to levy tariffs on China and to work instead with other nations to press Beijing to end restrictions on foreign firms. Imposing heavy tariffs, said a letter by the trade groups, “would trigger a chain reaction of negative consequences for the U.S. economy, provoking retaliation; stifling U.S. agriculture, goods, and services exports; and raising costs for businesses and consumers.” The White House is putting together a package of measures, including tariffs on at least an annual $30 billion of Chinese imports,...

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum has prompted a stampede by foreign countries and companies and their American partners pressing for exemptions and exclusions that could be worth billions of dollars in trade. Corporations and foreign leaders are leaning on personal relationships in vying for meetings with White House officials, hiring lawyers and lobbyists to defend them, and drafting messages to persuade the public of the importance of free trade. On Thursday afternoon, top oil and gas executives left an American Petroleum Institute board meeting at the Trump International Hotel in Washington and...

Nothing in her op-ed strikes so much as a glancing blow at any of the criticisms of the tariffs. In the New York Post, Betsy McCaughey says the steel and aluminum tariffs have come under “an avalanche of false criticism.” Let’s check out her arguments one by one, in order.National security IMcCaughey writes, Tariff-bashers claim in war, the United States could rely on foreign suppliers. That’s ridiculous. Uncle Sam can compel our manufacturers to make defense needs a priority — but not foreign producers. The biggest suppliers targeted by the tariffs are Brazil, South Korea, Russia and Turkey. Should our...

More Americans overall disapprove than approve of President Donald Trump's import tariffs on steel and aluminum, but Republicans back the president, and they believe the U.S. would come out ahead if a trade war were to ensue. A majority of Democrats and a plurality of independents disapprove of the new tariff measures, while two-thirds of Republicans approve.

For Dan DiMicco, the former steel executive and trade adviser to Trump who reportedly nearly became United States trade representative, there’s no risk of the president’s recently announced tariffs sparking a trade war — we’ve already been in one for years. The only difference now, he said, is that we’re deciding to fight back. “Don’t tell me about starting a trade war,” he said. “The Chinese have been perpetrating a trade war on us since 1995.” (please see full article at the link)

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Thursday that President Donald Trump would soon consider new punitive measures against China for its alleged “theft” of intellectual property. U.S. officials, according to news accounts, are considering imposing as much as $60 billion in annual tariffs against Chinese information technology, telecommunications and consumer exports to the U.S. in an effort to trim its chronic annual trade deficit with Beijing by $100 billion. Last year, the U.S. says it imported Chinese goods worth $375 billion more than it exported to China. (please see link for full article)

Dear President Trump : It seems you are about to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. You probably know that just about every economist except Peter Navarro thinks this is a terrible idea. But it’s not just us economists. Aside from the steel and aluminum industries, virtually the entire business community opposes the tariffs. The stock market took a major hit. And by the way, when did you stop using the Dow to keep score? You tweeted that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” Actually, trade wars are bad, and impossible to win. Voluntary trade is a...

Economists estimate President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs will reduce U.S. employment only modestly, but increasingly worry that foreign-trade disputes could escalate and damage the U.S. economy. Forecasters surveyed in recent days by The Wall Street Journal continue to expect solid economic growth this year, but see rising odds that growth will come in below expectations. Just over half said risks were tilted to the downside, jumping from 30% in February and the highest share since September. Even generally optimistic economists cited trade policy or protectionism as risks to the outlook. “With everything looking better coming into the year,...

President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum look like an effort that goes beyond its stated rationale of preserving national security. The tariffs could be the first of a number of initiatives by the Trump administration to retaliate against unfair foreign trade practices. “We’re going to see who’s treating us fairly, who’s not treating us fairly,” Trump said at the White House on March 8 while rolling out the new trade barriers. Trump signed orders imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. However, he has kept the doors...

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire says it's "unacceptable" that Google and Apple unilaterally impose prices and other contractual terms on software developers, and that this is hurting France's startups. Le Maire predicted the tech giants could face sanctions amounting to millions of euros, according to AFP. It’s not the first time the French government clashes with Google. It has repeatedly criticised the company for paying little tax in France by transferring its revenues to a subsidiary in Ireland, where taxes are much lower. Wednesday's move comes amid growing fears of an international trade war pitting the United States against...

LORAIN, OHIO Republic Steel says it plans to restart a northeast Ohio steel plant that could bring back more than 1,000 jobs in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports Republic Steel announced Thursday that it's "positioned" to restart its Lorain facility in the coming months. Plans include restarting its idled electric arc furnace, casters and rolling mills. The Canton-based company said in a news release that it's ready to respond quickly to increased demand for steel in the U.S. The company says with its open capacity at a melt shop in...

Maybe Donald Trump is such a powerful communicator and pot-stirrer that other countries, embarrassed by their own trade barriers, will eliminate them. Then I will thank the president for the wonderful thing he did. Genuine free trade will be a recipe for wonderful economic growth. But I fear the opposite: a trade war and stagnation -- because much of what Trump and his followers say is economically absurd. "(If) you don't have steel, you don't have a country!" announced the president. Lots of things are essential to America -- and international trade is the best way to make sure we...

One of the hardest things to accept for all of us who want Donald Trump to be a one-term president is the fact that some things are true even if Donald Trump believes them! And one of those things is that we have a real trade problem with China. Imports of Chinese goods alone equal two-thirds of the global U.S. trade deficit today. But while Trump’s gut instinct is right, he’s so ignorant about the facts, he’s so easily swayed by the last person he talked to or by ill-considered promises to his base, he’s so weirdly obsessed with protecting...

Here is a man who glories in breaking the rules, because that is how he rules. Notice, too, that in the middle of this comedy routine, Trump revealed exactly what he was planning to do with respect to North Korea. “By the way,” he told his audience, “a couple days ago they said, ‘We would like to talk,’ and I said, ‘So would we, but you have to de-nuke, you have to de-nuke.’ So let’s see what happens. . . . We will be meeting, and we’ll see if anything positive happens.” Not a single news outlet got the joke...

President Trump is right. Our trading partners—particularly China, Japan, and Mexico—are taking America to the woodshed. Consider that China steals more than half a trillion dollars in American intellectual property every single year. This is one of the reasons America’s trade deficit with China is so massive. For example, in 2010 Chinese companies stole high-speed rail designs from American firms, thereby depriving them of hundreds of billions in potential revenues. Such theft occurs in nearly every industry, whether it’s software programs or branded consumer goods. And the worst part? We let it happen. The globalist GOP refuses to punish China...