The following article by David Cay Johnston was posted on the DCReports.org website August 21, 2018:
Our Trade Deficit Has Grown Worse While China Finds New Suppliers and Markets
Reports are coming in from the first skirmishes in Donald Trump’s gratuitous trade war. They show our country is losing these early rounds of what China calls “the biggest trade war in economic history.”
“Trade wars are good and easy to win,” Trump declared in a March 2, 2018, tweet. So far that’s not how it’s gone.
Among the reports from the frontlines of this economic battleground is this gem — America’s trade deficit in goods has worsened significantly since the first of this year, Census Department data show: Overall 7% worse. China 9% worse. Europe 16% worse.
The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website August 8, 2018:
President Trump claimed early victory over the trade deficit, but his numbers didn’t add up. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
“In the numbers that were just released — the reporters didn’t cover this one — to me it was maybe more important than the 4.1 [percent growth in the gross domestic product], because we’re going to be doing a lot better than 4.1 as things go. For the first time maybe ever, the trade deficit just fell — think of that — for the quarter, $52 billion. Nobody reports it. Why don’t you report that? Just fell by $52 billion.” — President Trump, remarks during a campaign rally, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Aug. 2
“Very importantly, a number that people aren’t talking about, because most people don’t quite get it, but we had a $52 billion trade deficit reduction — which, people, is — you know, I will tell you, that’s a lot. That’s for the quarter.” — Trump, remarks at a roundtable, July 31
“Trade deficit — $52 billion reduction in the trade deficit for the quarter. . . . I think nobody would have thought that would be possible so quickly. $52 billion reduction in the trade deficit for the quarter.” — Trump, remarks in a news conference with the Italian prime minister, July 30
The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website August 6, 2018:
Trump has somehow given the Wall Street Journal editorial board and Paul Krugman something to agree about.
President Donald Trump’s tariff policy continues to infuriate the usually GOP-friendly writers on the Wall Street Journal editorial board, and the way the scheme is playing out had the board spitting fire Monday in a scathing new denunciation of the administration.
“Tariffs are taxes, which distort investment and limit growth,” the editorial said in the piece. “And like taxes, when tariffs are high they create a political incentive for exemptions and favoritism. Behold the Commerce Department’s new and tortuous process for reviewing exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs. This is everything Republicans typically claim to hate.”
The new review process allows for companies to file for exemptions to the tariffs — which many experts believe is an even worse outcome applying blanket tariffs.
The following article by David J. Lynch, Damian Paletta and Amanda Erickson was posted on the Washington Post website August 8, 2018:
China will impose 25 percent import tariffs on $16 billion of U.S. goods on Aug. 23, in response to the Trump administration’s additional proposed tariffs. (Reuters)
Nearly five months after President Trump first confronted China with tariffs over its trade practices, the two countries are further than ever from resolving their differences and appear to be digging in for what is likely to be a long and bruising conflict.
China said Wednesday that it would impose tariffs on an additional $16 billion in U.S. autos and energy products, retaliating for the Trump administration’s latest import levies on an equivalent value of Chinese goods.
Beijing signaled this week that it might target prominent American companies such as Apple if the trade dispute escalates. The iPhone maker relies upon China for one-fifth of its $229 billion in annual revenue, “leaving it exposed if Chinese people make it a target of anger and nationalist sentiment,” warned a commentary in the state-owned China Daily.
The following article by Rebecca Kheel was posted on the Hill website August 6, 2018:
The Trump administration announced Monday the reimposition of sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of a nuclear agreement with the country.
The sanctions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and follow through on the order President Trump gave when he withdrew from the nuclear pact in May.
“The United States is fully committed to enforcing all of our sanctions, and we will work closely with nations conducting business with Iran to ensure complete compliance. Individuals or entities that fail to wind down activities with Iran risk severe consequences,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
NOTE: This is a source we don’t usually link to, but it’s telling that the business community is concerned with the damage a Trump trade war will do to American business.
The following commentary was posted on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website August, 2018:
The administration’s new tariffs threaten to spark a global trade war.
Credit: Seeman via Morguefile.com
China, the EU, Mexico and Canada have already retaliated or announced plans to retaliate with billions of dollars in tariffs on American-made products.
Tariffs imposed by the United States are nothing more than a tax increase on American consumers and businesses–including manufacturers, farmers, and technology companies–who will all pay more for commonly used products and materials.
Retaliatory tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. exports will make American-made goods more expensive, resulting in lost sales and ultimately lost jobs here at home.
The following article by Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website August 5, 2018:
Nucor, a Charlotte-based steel manufacturer with ties to Trump officials, has challenged hundreds of requests from companies that say they need to import foreign steel components. Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Two of America’s biggest steel manufacturers — both with deep ties to administration officials — have successfully objected to hundreds of requests by American companies that buy foreign steel to exempt themselves from President Trump’s stiff metal tariffs. They have argued that the imported products are readily available from American steel manufacturers.
Charlotte-based Nucor, which financed a documentary film made by a top trade adviser to Mr. Trump, and Pittsburgh-based United States Steel, which has previously employed several top administration officials, have objected to 1,600 exemption requests filed with the Commerce Department over the past several months.
To date, their efforts have never failed, resulting in denials for companies that are based in the United States but rely on imported pipes, screws, wire and other foreign steel products for their supply chains.
The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website August 5, 2018:
During his last news conference at the G-7 summit, President Trump told reporters that countries who retaliate against U.S. trade policy are “making a mistake.” (The Washington Post)
President Trump tweeted Sunday morning that his tariffs are “working big time” and made a bizarre claim that the money raised from these new import taxes will go a long way to helping pay down America’s large debt. (Short answer: That’s not what will happen).
Trump portrays the tariffs as a tax on foreigners, but the reality is that tariffs are taxes on U.S. companies and consumers. When a big U.S. retail chain or an equipment manufacturer has to pay 10 or 25 percent more to get steel from Canada or a certain part from China, that U.S. company has to pay the taxwhen it imports that item. U.S. businesses either eat that extra cost or pass it along to consumers.
There are already signs that prices are rising because of Trump’s tariffs. Coca-Cola is raising prices on its drinksbecause his aluminum tariffs are making its cans more expensive, the company says. Winnebago, maker of RVs, also has raised some of its prices, blaming higher steel and aluminum costs. Over time, U.S. companies are likely to switch suppliers or change their products to use less of the higher-costing goods, but that doesn’t happen right away.
The following article by Ana Swanson and Keith Bradsher was posted on the New York TImes website August 1, 2018:
Credit: Seeman via Morguefile.com
WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his trade war with China on Wednesday, ordering his administration to consider more than doubling proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent, as talks between Washington and Beijing remain at a standstill.
Mr. Trump instructed the United States trade representative to look into increasing tariffs on Chinese imports like fish, petroleum, chemicals, handbags and other goods to 25 percent, a significant step in a dispute that is beginning to take a toll on industries and consumers in both countries. A final decision on the size and scope of the tariffs is not expected before September.
The effort to further punish China is being led by hard-line advisers to Mr. Trump, who believe inflicting painful measures on Beijing is the best way to force it back to the negotiating table on trade. But that approach is once again creating fissures within Mr. Trump’s own team, with his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, adamantly opposed to ratcheting up the tariffs and Peter Navarro, a key trade adviser, advocating the higher duties, people with knowledge of the discussions said. Stephen K. Bannon, who left the White House last August, has also been counseling the president to pursue tougher tariffs, according to people familiar with his thinking.
The following article was posted on the Axios website July 30, 2018:
President Trump said Monday that he is willing to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani without preconditions.
“I believe in meeting…I had a great meeting with President Putin of Russia. … I would certainly meet with Iran if they’re ready to meet.”
Why it matters: The Trump administration has employed destabilization and delegitimization versus the Iranian regime, encouraging its citizens to pile pressure on their government and showing tacit support for regime change. Rouhani has reportedly rejected meeting in the past. Now, Trump’s willingness to meet is a stated U.S. position.
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Donald J. Trump
✔@realDonaldTrump
Obama wanted to meet with the Iranian president, yet the Iranians denied the request. So much for Hope & Change.
Reports are coming in from the first skirmishes in Donald Trump’s gratuitous trade war. They show our country is losing these early rounds of what China calls “the biggest trade war in economic history.”
