Tuesday, September 18, 2018

ESCALATION: China Reacts to New US Tariffs

President Trump and Chinese President  Xi Jinping
Beijing has a quick response to new tariffs (SEE: Trump Slams China With Tariffs on Additional $200 Billion Worth of Goods) imposed by President Trump.

It says it will retaliate against Trump, saying the Trump’s decision to
slap tariffs on more than half of all Chinese imports had undermined efforts to reach a negotiated settlement and would spark counter-measures.

“We have been stressing that talks need to happen on the basis of parity, equality and good faith,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said at a daily briefing. “What the US has done shows no sincerity and good faith at all.”

In a statement, China’s commerce ministry, which led the last round of trade talks with the US, said Beijing would adopt “other tariff escalation measures”.

All this is destructive, of course. China should understand that unilateral trade without barriers is the best policy even when up against a country that imposes tariffs.

Adopting tariffs hurt a domestic economy by raising prices and limiting supply, thus lowering the domestic standard of living.

“Sino-US relations have reached their worst moment in 40 years,” Lü Xiang at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences added. “We don’t know if Trump has a Plan B to get out of the quagmire.”

-RW  



2 comments:

  1. thats the point. it hits the chinese much more than the US (much more than flights across north korea or chinese man made islands and brings in more cash for the MIC.

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    Replies
    1. Re: Heath,

      --- it hits the chinese much more than the US ---

      That's not true. The Chinese are more used to privation than American consumers, who in the end feel the brunt of DJT's and Ross' tariffs.

      Delete