Two more tariff announcements, one on port fees, the other on China isolation were added and removed. 
Trump Worried About Trade With China Stalling
On April 17, Bloomberg reported Trump Says He Is Reluctant to Keep Raising Tariffs on China
President Donald Trump said he was reluctant to continue ratcheting up tariffs on China because it could stall trade between the two countries, and insisted Beijing had repeatedly reached out in a bid to broker a deal.
“I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and I think it’s going to continue. And I would say they have reached out a number of times,” Trump said.
When pressed on whether Xi himself directly had contacted him or whether it was Chinese officials, Trump responded, “Well, the same. I view it very similar. It would be top levels of China.”
“At a certain point I don’t want them to go higher because at a certain point you make it where people don’t buy. So I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level,” Trump said. “I may want to go to less because, you know, you want people to buy.”
Three Things
- All of a sudden Trump is worried about China retaliations and trade not just stalling, but ending.
- Xi did not call trump.
- I expect these low level officials reaching out are telling Trump that Xi would take his call, The message would be much different if Xi wanted to talk to Trump.
U.S. Plans to Use Tariff Negotiations to Isolate China
On April 15, the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. Plans to Use Tariff Negotiations to Isolate China
The idea is to extract commitments from U.S. trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House. U.S. officials plan to use negotiations with more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, prevent Chinese firms from locating in their territories to avoid U.S. tariffs, and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies.
Those measures are meant to put a dent in China’s already rickety economy and force Beijing to the negotiating table with less leverage ahead of potential talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The exact demands could vary widely by nation, given their degree of involvement with the Chinese economy.
The White House and Treasury didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The tactic is part of a strategy being pushed by Bessent to isolate the Chinese economy that has gained traction among Trump officials recently. Debates over the scope and severity of U.S. tariffs are ongoing, but officials largely appear to agree with Bessent’s China plan.
It involves cutting China off from the U.S. economy with tariffs and potentially even cutting Chinese stocks out of U.S. exchanges. Bessent didn’t rule out the administration trying to delist Chinese stocks in a recent interview with Fox Business.
Still, the ultimate goal of the administration’s China policy isn’t yet clear.
“The ball is in China’s court,” Leavitt said when reading Trump’s statement. “China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them. China wants what we have…the American consumer.”
It also isn’t clear that the anti-China line has entered into negotiations with all nations. Some countries haven’t heard demands from U.S. negotiators related to China, say people familiar with the talks, though they acknowledge that negotiations remain in early stages. Many expect the Trump administration to raise China-related demands sooner or later.
Goal Isn’t Clear, Ball in Trump’s Court
The goal isn’t clear because Trump has conflicting goals that can change frequently, even hourly.
The ball in in Trump’s court. He can reach out to Xi. And no nation can trust any deal Trump makes, so why bother reaching out.
As long as Trump keeps up with inflammatory statements, there will not be a meeting with Xi.
Port Docking Fee
On April, 17, 2025 CNBC reported Trump administration announces fees on Chinese ships docking at U.S. ports
The Trump administration on Thursday announced fees on Chinese-built vessels after a United States Trade Representative investigation by the Biden-Trump administrations found China’s acts, policies and practices were unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.
“Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. “The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships.”
The USTR said China largely achieved its dominance through its increasingly aggressive and specific targeting of these sectors, severely disadvantaging U.S. companies, workers and the U.S. economy.
The fees will be charged once per voyage and not per port, as originally proposed.
The policy proposal, begun under the Biden administration and culminating in a January report concluded China’s shipbuilding industry had an unfair advantage, would allow the U.S. government to impose steep levies on Chinese-made ships arriving at U.S. ports.
The original proposal called for a service fee of up to $1 million to be charged on each Chinese-owned operators (such as Cosco). The original proposal also said that for non-Chinese-owned ocean carriers with fleets containing
The USTR acknowledged this change was made due to the public comments at the two days of hearings on the fines in March where over 300 trade groups and other interested parties testified. Many warned the government in letters and in testimony that the U.S. was in no position to win an economic war that placed ocean carriers using Chinese-made vessels in the middle. Soon, Chinese-made vessels will represent 98% of the trade ships on the world’s oceans.
The World Shipping Council also issued a statement Friday detailing “serious concerns” over the port fees, calling the move “a step in the wrong direction.”
Port Fees Off
On April 17, Reuters reported United States eases port fees on China-built ships after industry backlash
Ocean shipping transports about 80% of global trade – from food and furniture to cement and coal. Industry executives feared virtually every cargo carrier could face steep, stacking fees that would make U.S. export prices unattractive and foist annual import costs of $30 billion on American consumers.
“Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships.”
Still, the fees on Chinese-built ships add another irritant to swiftly rising trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies as President Donald Trump seeks to draw China into talks on his new tariffs of 145% on many of its goods.
The revisions tackle major concerns voiced in a tsunami of opposition from the global maritime industry, including domestic port and vessel operators as well as U.S. shippers of everything from coal and corn to bananas and cement.
They grant some requested carve-outs, while phasing in fees that reflect the fact U.S. shipbuilders, which turn out about five vessels annually, will need years to compete with China’s output of more than 1,700 a year.
The USTR exempted ships that ferry goods between domestic ports as well as from those ports to Caribbean islands and U.S. territories. Both American and Canadian vessels that call at Great Lakes ports have also won a reprieve.
As a result, companies such as U.S.-based carriers Matson and Seaboard Marine would dodge the fees. Also exempt are empty ships arriving at U.S. ports to load up with exports such as wheat and soybeans.
Cancellations of Chinese freight ships begin as bookings plummet
Also note Trade war fallout: Cancellations of Chinese freight ships begin as bookings plummet
- The number of canceled sailings of freight vessels out of China is picking up as ocean carriers attempt to manage a pullback in orders due to the trade war and tariffs.
- A steep decline in containers being shipped to the U.S. will have a big impact on the supply chain, from port to trucking, rail and warehouse economics.
- “We won’t go to zero containers, but we will see a decrease in containers and as a result, in the future we will see a massive raft of blank sailings announced,” one freight expert tells CNBC.
- A total of 80 blank, or canceled, sailings out of China have been recorded by freight company HLS Group.
- If each sailing was carrying 8,000 to 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), that would equal a decline in freight traffic of between 640,000-800,000 containers, and lead to decreased crane operations at the ports, lower fees that could be collected, and declines in container pick-ups and transports by trucks, rails, and to warehouses for storage.
- The World Trade Organization warned on Wednesday that the outlook for global trade has “deteriorated sharply” in the wake of Trump’s tariffs plan. JB Hunt shares hit their lowest level since November 2020 after commentary during the trucking company’s earnings call about the uncertainty from tariffs.
Trump Playbook
Announce an absurd policy without consulting any trade experts, then back down when the backlash happens.
“We have no way of knowing how significant this drop in orders will be on vessel schedules,” said Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence. “There are no models to extrapolate this.
Trade Disruption
Neither article discussed the port distortions. Smaller ports cannot handle China’s biggest ships. But small ships are disadvantaged on fees.
As port fee avoidance escalates, traffic at smaller ports would plunge.
Trump does not think any trade policy through.
Related Posts
April 16, 2025: Fed Chair Powell Warns of Higher Inflation and Slower Growth Due to Tariffs
At the Economic Club of Chicago, Jerome Powell makes a cautionary speech.
April 18, 2025: Ford Halts Shipments of F-150s and Other Models to China, Winning?
The shipment halt is a logical conclusion to something no one would buy.
April 15, 2025: A Trade War Debate, Who Has the Cards, the US or China?
Let’s discuss a pair of articles from ZeroHedge and Politico.
Trump claims he has all the cards. His actions show otherwise.
From the google
“In the last 10 years, a very limited number of large ships have been built commercially in the US. In 2022, the US built only 5 oceangoing commercial ships, compared to 1,794 in China and 734 in South Korea. The US commercial shipbuilding industry is largely dependent on the Jones Act, which protects it from international competition.”
Jones Act:
The Jones Act, officially part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, is a US law that mandates that all cargo transported by sea between US ports must be carried on vessels built, owned, and crewed in the United States. This “cabotage” requirement aims to support the domestic shipbuilding and shipping industries, ensuring a US-based maritime workforce and potentially bolstering national security.
Great, as always.
Lower interest rates, tariffs and higher tax collection, along with a smaller gov will fill gov coffer. If the Trump/Vance be fully committed to cutting debt they can cut it by a third. Why the elite jackasses can’t get it
SPX above 7K and a 50K Dow.
Trump’s PhD Economists are a joke. My Basic BEco X 3 ( Reading news and economic news letter for more than 10 years ) knows more than them.( Basic knowledge )
The ball is in China’s court,” Leavitt said when reading Trump’s statement. “China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them. China wants what we have…the American consumer.”
=======
Leavitt began attending Saint Anselm College in 2015,[7] majoring in communications and minoring in political science. She interned with NBC Sports Boston but later shifted towards political journalist
=====
jesus!
stupid a11ss does not even have even macro-finaince-etc education.
USA ppl is 3% of world AND USA ECONOMY IS 20% of world, and based on printing and debt. and lots of it.
alx
bwaaaaahhhhh. it’s great. trump is gonna drive us into a depression with inflation too. gonna be fun to watch another evil empire crumble. be profitable as hell too, for many of us. great for humanity, too. the human primate species.
if this is an evil empire, then please name an example of a righteous empire.
world wide war mongering empires cannot be righteous old bill. this is elementary school stuff old sport. home schooled?
so here’s your second chance. name a righteous empire. follow up question, name one country you’ve ever spent time in outside the us. ever worn a uniform? ever gone overseas wearing the American flag on your shoulder? I’m guessing not. you sound like another sniveling college kid who has no clue how good he has it.
also. gi bill. university of chicago. economics, and you?
Do you know The Chief from the Stocks n Jocks podcast?
familiar with him and the show, but no I don’t know him.
What is this ‘school’ you speak of?
Strange insult since home schooled kids do better on standardized tests than government schooled kids.
When Hamas raided Israel bmcc dopamine was high on opium. After the plunge Palestinians dopamine fell below the baseline. This shock sent Jasa to a hopeless state and depression. Only Trump can lift them, but it will take years.Trump rearranged the world: ME peace instead of bloodshed. The puke media hates Trump after Kamala destroyed the 100Y uniparty. AAPL produces Iphones in China for about a $100, before selling them to Ireland for tax avoidance. Ireland sells to US consumers for $1200/$1500. That cannot cont. Iphone and RE deflation. Industrial production up, financed by the banks.Trillions are pouring in. Within a year or two high, wages protected by tariffs, will kickstart the US economy, with or without recession.
Trump will have to travel to China and kneel in front of the world to ask for forgiveness.
I was thinking an aircraft carrier surrender, like the Japanese do so well.
Do you think it takes a WHOLE HOUR for the republican administration to change its mind?
That implies some thinking or plan/goals. For me it changes every few seconds and lacks a well thought out direction.
Think DUCK SOUP.
i have blocked Engel. the man is annoying. folks don’t get Trump is a pure nihilist. only cares about being on stage in center stage. does not matter what it is for. that’s it. end of story.
it must be hard for you being the only person who can see things so clearly. ahh, the burden of the radically independent intellectual … you’re so unique.
Good call. He does scribe some uniquely insightful bollox.
I live in Trump’s territory. On Fri the church near me made an inciting show. The locals love it. They do it for 20 years. Trump is an Andrew Mellon disciple. He implemented Harding and Coolidge policies.
trump is a nihilist. only cares about headlines. know the man. for past half century. he’s a great actor, too. like hitler was. thank heavens donald is even dumber than hitler. see charlie chaplin film about hitler. he knew hitler was just a great actor. same with trump. you are ignorant Engel.
shocking. another Democrat comparing Trump to hitler. you guys need to come up with some new material. what’s hysterical as you pretend to be intellectuals at the same time.
you are a moron. if you are caught up in the blue v red team hooey i say, never stop. it’s cute. like a special needs child.
enlighten me with your radical independence. who is it youd like to see as president.
Actually I’d love to see an average American as POTUS. One person man or woman who has struggled for years in a job they hated but continue on just to support their family. Someone who would or could understand what their decisions have in the real world. Someone who drives their own 10 year old car and pumps their own gas. Or maybe a farmer who buys at retail and sells his products at wholesale. Or how about a trash collector who does more for society in a day than Trump has done in a lifetime. Or how about a national lottery, put in your SSN and a drawing determines the POTUS, anyone would be better than Trump except maybe Vance.
One of the more interesting ideas is to get rid of voting and go with a lottery system. You have to pass a test on the constitution, how the government works, and basic economics. If you pass the test, you can throw your name in the barrel. A lottery then picks the winner. Would be miles better than what we have today. Fox, CNN and MSNBC would all be out of business.
who whom or what enforces the tariff collection while keeping track of when and what is ta- riffed and at what percentage?? US Customs Delays Tariff Collection Until ‘Glitch’ is Resolved https://www.pymnts.com/shipping/2025/us-customs-delays-tariff-collection-until-glitch-is-resolved/
The question is: what was everyone expecting?
Only the staunchest MAGA’s keep believing that there is a sensible plan behind this chaos. Most of them have very naive ideas about China and its economy, but they are ready to point fingers a the ‘leftists’ because they cannot admit their idol is an economically illiterate bully who thinks he can impress a 5,000 years old nation with 5 times the population, take or leave a few hundred millions.
But there is no denying the testosterone high one gets by watching their leader adopt the John Wayne posture. They are most definitely clueless that the ‘opponent’ has grown up reading The Art of War instead of watching John Wayne movies.
people who talk like you make me laugh. but let’s even say that what you’re saying is correct … he keeps beating you. so what does that say about you? maybe next time your party should allow for a primary. they don’t even trust you to vote.
People like you are obviously a member of the cult. Your leader/king/god is mentally ill, that you can’t or won’t see his condition says a lot about you.
MAGA = AINO (American In Name Only)
clearly we would have been better off with the mentally broken candidate and or his incompetent vice president. personally, I will miss open borders and being forced to pay for student college debt. the intellectual prowess of the left will always be unmatched, though. you guys clearly have The high ground on these matters. modern monetary theory is so superior to tariffs. just one example.
Unfortunately , there is very little to laugh about concerning this administration, more suitable to shake your head at their crass stupidity.
John Wayne Gacy movies, too.
Y2K sent the Nasdaq up in 2000. AI sent the Nasdaq up, before the slump. It’s not
about tariffs or Trump.
Mortgage rates are high bc the risk is high, not bc the high inflation !
Trump drained the swamp, trimmed his gov and raised tariffs to finance the gov between mid 2025 and mid 2027, until higher wages kickstart the economy.
Most anti Trump mocking comments are repeats by foreigners or dems.
I am neither a foreigner nor a dem. I am apolitical. My main interest is the economy and Trump’s economic experiment with tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs are bringing in 250 million per day according to Customs and Border, who collect them. That totals to 90 billion per year.
The US government will collect $5.2 trillion in taxes (which includes the 0.09 trillion tariffs) and run a $1.9 trillion deficit in 2025. Spending will be $7.1 trillion.
You keep repeating that Trump will cut government spending, eliminate the deficit and pay down the debt. None of that is true. And no matter how many times you repeat it, it will never be true.
When someone points that out to you, you complain that they must be foreigners or dems.
It is beyond nonsense for you to keep repeating this garbage. For someone who occasionally has some worthwhile insights, I have difficulty understanding this ridiculous line of reasoning you keep promoting.
You are looking at the rearview mirror, starting from 500 millions years ago, bc it improves your trading. Lately u lecture, fight and insult many, possibly bc your positions slumped.. It makes u more powerful, but u have tunnel vision, relax ! Traders don’t care about the econ. It’s all in the chart. Institutions use the puke media for buy/sell.
Your arguments are false. They fly in the face or reality. I cannot understand them.
Show me some numbers that prove your arguments.
How much is being collected in tariff revenue?
How much is government spending decreasing?
How much is the deficit being lowered?
If you can’t back it up with real numbers, then you are just a political shill. And why should I bother with you?
Is that why you are always uncritical of every little move, always stridently waving one flag, same direction? That does not signify objectivity in the slightest. the world is not faintly that simple. The ADHD and absurdities at least 50% of the time (which you systematically ignore) are plain to see. The ad hominem outbursts detract from what you are trying to argue. I agree you have shown insights, but I think it is deteriorating.
ADHD are inconsistent. Many here are on sugar high, off tracks, junk comments, wrapped with high end intellect. If my comments are too complicated for u, if u don’t like my comments, which are pretty consistent ==> skip !
Are you Dr Michael Burry?
you might be a political. but i had news for you long ago. politics cares about you and will affect YOU. the donald is the perfect reflection of democracy at work. since republic of plato was penned this is true. amerikans are trump. trump is amerika. i’ve known this since i was a puppy. the worldwide war mongering empire is now a pariah. like israel. gonna be stagflation. i made bets in 2018 we wouldn’t make it past jan 20, 2029 without a few states effectively seceding. no need to even declare anything. Trump is good for this. all evil empires die off. good for humanity. good for my wallet. so far i’ve made a shit ton on trump presidency. i suspect it will get easier. thanks papa for your stock recommendations past few years. you are few guys here who share actual ideas to make dough. i like gold and shorting obvious failures in bear markets. i did tons of business in russia in 90s. learned how to trade failed empires.
That is not bad news. I thrive on profiting from the opportunities that politicians present to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s Biden, Trump or someone else.
I am enjoying Trump’s tariff experiment. I just find it incredulous how some here believe it will pay off the deficit and debt.
you’re the only person i know who talks about how much money he makes … apart from people who have no money but just like to talk … i wont’ hold my breath for a reply as i’m sure you’re currently buried in some abstract carry trade for the time being …
It’s because he is in a cult, nothing you ever say will convince him of his folly. He simply cannot see the truth, he is as mentally ill as Trump just in a different way.
Like Trump’s impulse-driven trade pronouncements, any agreements the administration gets from these hostage-taking “negotiations” will not be binding or legal. Therefore, they will not be durable and binding. To turn any “agreement” into an actual binding trade agreement, the U.S. Congress would need to approve it, and the same would need to occur on the other side with a given legislature/parliament. So, in reality, what is happening is just theater more than anything. It is hostage taking, extortion, and a forced non-binding ransom agreement.
And, it is reversible at will by even its originator, which we are seeing in multiple reversals in tiny time periods. Carl Icahn was famous as a negotiator who could make his counter-parties’ heads spin, holding and switching around all kinds of deal points in a single session, but that was not this. I think the global laughter may start soon.
It’s more than a year I sold all US Stocks and hold only Canadian high divident Utilities,Pipeline, Gas, Oil and Money Mrkt. Teck is still a way overvalued nonsense.
BTFD is cuicidal. Untill Trump stops trowing angry tarrifs at the wall and waiting to see what sticks there is no reason to buy or FOMO
I sold a lot of stocks, weeks ago, and the market now is almost exactly flat from then. I swore I didn’t need the cliff-hanging drama, and that has worked for me. I can only be spun by a carnival act for so long.
I guess that Trump is running out of time. His administration may run into debt ceiling problem in summer, tax cut expires in 2026 and 80% of voters want it to be renewed (if not, bye bye mid-terms). The problem here is that some GOP Congressmen (who foolishly believed Trump’s election promises) campaigned on small government&deficit reduction platform and they want the cut to be funded (from tariffs?). That doesn’t leave much time for real chickens game. P.S. I am not an American so I hope that I didn’t misinterpeted some facts.
I wish Trump could focus on what he promised: stabilize the border, focus on consumer prices, and maintain the tax structure without an enormous global sideshow. But I think he is incapable of that. He seems to need a huge amount of sound and fury, retribution and all this other stuff. He is spending political capital on a long-term planet-wide reset, along with some very personal dubious side stuff, and he needed to build the confidence of Congress and the public at this point, for such a thing.
he has only cared about one thing for the past 50 plus years. being in the headlines and famous. all the rest of his stuff is secondary to achieving this. bad or good. this is 100% it. the rest of analysis about him is rubbish. been following him forever in nyc. my grandaddy was close pals with fred trump. my dad saw donald grow up as a child. bro is his age. that’s it. not too complicated. just headlines. no there, there.
nothing spells trust fund more than this post.
They should have never killed off Bill The Butcher.
you got it wrong. NO GOP congressman give a hoot about small G. it’s all just acting. follow the money and body bags the past 60 years for proof.
This was posted by Shaun Rein (Founder of The China Market Research Group) on X about Scott Bessent:
https://x.com/shaunrein/status/1909992240413356456
“I advised Scott Bessent, now Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury who is leading the tariff war, in 2013 when he was still with Soros. An investment bank engaged me to advise Bessent on China’s economy and consumer trends and go over my book The End of Cheap China.
I took an instant disliking – Bessent was one of the most arrogant and ignorant on China people I had ever met. He was uber bearish on China and was largely ideologically driven in his analysis. Communist countries couldn’t succeed was basically the jist of his views.
Data and rational analysis did not reign supreme.
He thinks America has the upper hand with China right now. I worry for America. We have one of the most ignorant on China yet arrogant people I’ve ever met running a trade war against China.”
Oh my.
I am certainly not an admirer of China nor a China apologist, BUT the anti-China fixation of this administration and those who Trump has surrounded himself with risk strengthening China economically as the trade wars push our traditional allies away. Plus, geopolitically, the China fixation has subordinated our desire to contain Russia, the known enemy of “the West.”
In the little I have heard from Bessent in sound bites on the media, he fails to impress. But then, anyone who works for Trump, generally speaking, is not from the top 50% of the IQ pool.
INTELLIGENCE or cunning or wealth is not really important. lots of damn fools in that group. wisdom is the true rare earth. in a land like amerika, it is perhaps 2% of the population. the green and libertarian voters………….the rest are pure nihilist cun*s.
let me guess … you’re in the 2% … oh the burden you must carry with your radical independence and high intellectualism.
100% of people think. 2 to 5% of people sit around writing comments on websites thinking they’re intellectuals. the other 95% to 98% do the heavy lifting and carry the nerds. it’s funny that somebody who says most people don’t think has to rely on another man’s quote to make his point. and when I say funny, I mean pathetic. and when I say somebody, I mean you.
Thanks for sharing Billy.
Do you include yourself in this statement “2 to 5% of people sit around writing comments on websites thinking they’re intellectuals”?
as a matter of fact I do.
and apparently I’m better at it than you because you chose not to respond to my larger point. maybe there was no one else’s words for you to steal this time.
Oh, I have plenty of my own words and many I can borrow also. You, OTOH, are not worth wasting any more words on.
obviously …
And a POTUS who is mentally ill…..WTF.
Mao and Deng were very elastic. Xi is inelastic. He is betting Martingale. China is all over the place, while centrifugal forces are threatening to break it apart from inside. After Egypt ousted the Muslim Bros they moved to Turkey and Qatar. They are a rising opponent to Trump’s peace plan. If we settle with Iran. a flourishing ME might stop them. They issued a fatwa against the “Zionist state”. They tried to oust king Abdullah of Jordan. On Oct 8 2023 they took over Trafalgar Sq. A good economy lift all people: Shia and Muslims alike. Unlike Wilson, who built institutions to stop the bloodshed, before Kellogg Briand, which was notary for a 300×300 tiny Island to rule 80% of the world, under Trump people might settle their differences. After Hamas fell on it’s head ==> neuroplasticity might better their lives.
Trump hater are 90% of the comments. They are brainwashed by the puke media: the southern border was closed, gas is down, recession is off and drain the swamp is on.
If u guys cont to herd together u might get what u wished for.
Don’t forget the Michael Engel haters, which are also about 90% of the comment stream.
he seems like giggly white trash. a nihilist.
you seem like a trust fund kid trying to date girls at columbia.
Trump was in touch with the Chinese official who is in charge of keeping track of tariff announcements. Sort of like a tariff tsar.
Hahahaha!
Please, please call us China. It doesn’t even have to be Xi. It can be his dog walker’s spouse’s second cousin if need be. Just somebody please call! I’ve painted myself into a corner and can’t get out.
And to the rest of the world. Hey everyone; let’s all get together and gang up on China now. Because after all, we are all best friends and trading partners; right? I was just joking when I said you were all taking advantage of the US and raping us on trade. And that tariff list against all of you; that was just a joke between friends.
Oh. And please come visit the US. We love all the tourists coming here. Never mind that we keep throwing you in jail for no reason. That’s just a few over zealous border patrol folks.
President Xi. Your tariff war is threatening world trade. You shouldn’t have started it. But I will forgive you if you give me a call. We can work things out.
Lol!
What a show!
China Daily is the mouthpiece of the CCP. This recent editorial should make things clear from China’s POV.
“And no nation can trust any deal Trump makes, so why bother reaching out.”
And yet I think this time Trump can be trusted. With his reputation on the line across the world — which is being stung by the new American wall posed against it and looking for a way out — Trump will stand by any formal agreement that he crafts.
The thing about the successor to NAFTA was that it wasn’t a Trump deal originally. Trump spits on deals that he doesn’t handcraft himself. Unlike NAFTA, whose signers wanted to include a country such as Mexico in order to sound comprehensive, the Trump agreement with Mexico will be on a separate level altogether.
Mexico will not get Caterpillar plants, GM factories. Mexico is not Canada — it’s an advanced THIRD WORLD state whose endemic poverty makes it great for negotiating shitty labor contracts and disastrous environment pogroms against the native lifeforms (if any are still left in Mexico). Perhaps Trump won’t be all bad after all.
=-=-=
You can read more of my writings by visiting: dark. sport. blog — on the net!
Trump has a 50 year history of breaking deals. Now we can trust him to finally keep one? What are you smoking?
It is entertaining to watch trumpers cling to slithers of hope the way a child clings to hope that Santa will bring him a PS5 for Christmas this year. I wish I could only be there when your dreams are crushed by bad orange man.
if only your party would have let you vote in a primary last year … maybe next time …
what party would that be? I’m cashing out my chips and moving abroad next year. Enjoy your mess and reap what you have sown.
oh no. how will America ever survive without people like you and the hosts of the view?
also, your post indicates you’ve never lived abroad. let me save you the logistical headaches. there is not nor will there be in your lifetime or your children’s lifetime any place better on planet Earth for you to live ithan the United States of America in the 21st century. only those who’ve never left try to argue otherwise, like 2-year-olds complaining they can’t have chocolate for dinner.
China has all the Cards. There are dozens of Countries (Europe, for example) that are gladly dealing with China. China can also financially ruin the US with a pen stroke by selling all the Treasuries, regardless of the present Value.
The betting odds are that trump capitulates first.
I wait to see if he fires Powell, then it’s time to dump $ and US treasuries. Dumped my $ last week, no treasuries, or exposure to them fortunately.
Powell doesn’t work for Trump. How can he fire him?
Trump appointed him. But he can’t fire him.
Trump and Powell are partners.
i shorted every last dollar i had when the donald took oath. started last summer.
all 20 bucks?
21.67 after he searched the couch. /s