He doesn't understand anything about basic economics and trade relationships. He thinks America's trade deficit means America is "losing". He see everything though the prism of politics, in how tariffs can benefit him, not how it impacts America on the whole.
His tariffs, like all his other policies, is not therefore based on facts but only on how it will impact his political fortunes.
Bottom line, the market euphoria over the "trace" in the trade war is naive and unwarranted, the two sides are fundamentally stuck on some basic non-negotiable issues. Don't expect the trade war to end anytime soon.
Last edited by Coolboy; 12-07-2019 at 02:57 PM.
I did read one theory that he was trying to emulate Reagan who went aggressive in weapons building to end the cold war. Obviously China isn't a military threat but is an economic threat due to the trade imbalance and not playing to the spirit of WTO rules. So the threat of punitive tariffs was counter the rise of China. Although it is more likely he wants to sell more agri products fro his core voters to win the next election. Far too soon to try to appear victorious in a trade war so this will rumble on until Jul-Sept 2020.
If I am not mistaken, the Russian border dispute has been settled by China. The existing border is the accepted border by both Russia and China, so regardless of what some in China may feel, they are bound to respect the current boundaries. The only really big border dispute on land is with India, that has not been settled, both sides adhere to the actual "line of control", but do not recognize each other's claims.
Which leaves the South China Sea as the big issue...
But that’s all what Trump wants. If China buys more US products he can “claim” a win.Original Post Deleted