As Trade War Escalates, Trump Has Impotently 'Ordered' American Businesses Out of China
Trump's economic nationalism has always been an exercise in petty authoritarianism, and it's increasingly difficult to see it as anything else.
Trump's economic nationalism has always been an exercise in petty authoritarianism, and it's increasingly difficult to see it as anything else.
"If I didn't help them, they would have a big problem," says Trump. But maybe he's already "helped" enough.
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President Trump has cut a lot of regulations—but increased some others.
Tariffs are taxes on imports that translate into higher prices for American businesses and consumers.
It's not just the cost of the tariffs that are hurting the economy. "The indirect costs are enormous," says one Wisconsin CEO.
When it comes to trade, the Trump administration is guided by incoherent economic thinking.
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The White House says it will delay some new tariffs on Chinese imports until after the Christmas shopping season. But why do that if Americans aren't paying?
Thanks to the trade war, Americans are already importing fewer laptops, speakers, and other electronic items—and paying a higher price for the items they do buy. A bigger hit is coming.
Don't worry about China's currency manipulation. It only hurts China's own people, and benefits American consumers and businesses.
Stocks plunge as China cuts off purchases of American agricultural goods, U.S. responds by labeling China a "currency manipulator" because the Chinese government is no longer artificially propping up the yuan.
Protectionism fails, even for those who were supposed to benefit.
Investment in American businesses has fallen sharply since the start of the trade war, and American exports are way down too.
The tariffs haven't worked yet, but Trump is going to keep trying anyway.
Unlike many other policies proposed by Democratic presidential hopefuls, trade policy is something a new president can unilaterally impose.
Warren says her administration "will engage in international trade—but on our terms and only when it benefits American families." The details show she'd be opposed to trade with most developing nations.
If big government is the price of "good outcomes," the American right is increasingly willing to pay it.
A new report shows that American imports from Asia continue to grow, although the tariffs might be responsible for shifting some manufacturing from China to Vietnam and elsewhere.
Trump's steel protectionism seems to have failed. Again.
Economic reality is always more complex than politicians pretend it is.
Soybean exports to China have fallen by 74 percent in the past year.
American businesses and consumers are drowning in a sea of high tariffs.
Tariffs on tea have never caused any problems, right?
Even a majority of Republicans now tell pollsters that the trade war is costing Americans, and there's no easy justification for targeting European cultural goods.
"Working families should not have to pay the price for the president's reckless use of this tariff authority," says Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat.
Who could have seen that coming? Well, lots of people did—but the U.S. International Trade Commission and President Trump didn't listen.
The biggest American steelmaker says there has been reduced demand for their products in recent months, probably because they raised prices after Trump slapped tariffs on foreign steel.
Trade is necessary, even for American companies making American products in American factories.
In a new report, the Treasury Department declares it will begin scrutinizing any nation that runs a bilateral trade imbalance of more than $40 billion with the United States
A majority of Democratic voters now favor free trade. Some of the party's presidential candidates are starting to notice.
Each tariff the president imposes is a tax on Americans.
The president's bizarre and counterproductive obsession with tariffs could spell economic catastrophe.
And it reveals the major blind spot in Trump's view of how international trade works.
The president still has time to avoid the economic damage, but who knows how much political damage he's already done?
So far, the answer is "maybe."
Even if Trump's tariffs go away, the debilitating economic effects are likely to linger for years.
If the tariffs ramp-up all the way to 25 percent, as Trump has threatened, they would be the biggest tax increase since 1968.
Politically. Economically. Diplomatically. Legally. Trump's tariff threat against Mexico is a stunningly stupid maneuver no matter how you look at it.
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China's 2010 export restrictions on rare earth compounds failed then, and they would fail now
This might seem like nothing more than a snooze-worthy debate over semantics or economic theory or government P.R. strategies. But it matters a lot.
"Tariffs are taxes on Americans—and we talk as if that's not the case; we forget that Americans are paying them," says Pete Buttigieg. That shouldn't be noteworthy, but unfortunately it is.
As messy as things are, they could get uglier still.
Trump isn't putting any tariffs on imported cars right now, but the White House has released a report that effectively allows the president to do that any time he chooses.
Trump's strategy was never going to be a winning one.
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