Tag: Trump tariffs

China’s trade with US shrinks as tariff war worsens

BEIJING (AP) — China’s trade with the United States is falling as the two sides prepare for negotiations with no signs of progress toward ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth.

Imports of American goods tumbled 22% in August from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, customs data showed Sunday. Exports to the United States, China’s biggest market, sank 16% to $44.4 billion.

Both sides have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s imports in the fight over complaints about Beijing’s trade surplus and technology development plans. The United States, Europe, Japan and other trading partners say those violate Chinese market-opening commitments.

View the complete September 8 article by Joe McDonald on the Associated Press website here.

Trade war taking a toll in Minnesota

The major stock indices soared Thursday on word that the U.S. and China would hold high-level trade talks next month. Despite investors’ optimism, the Trump administration’s trade war with China has already hit Minnesota retailers and consumers.

A new round of tariffs took effect this week, and the prospect of further hikes has some Minnesota retailers on edge.

As of Sunday, a 15 percent charge began applying to $110 billion of mostly consumer goods imported from China. Trump has also announced that existing tariffs on another group of $250 billion of goods will go up to 30 percent next month.

View the complete September 5 article by Riham Fishir on the MPR News website here.

Dried-up exports bring Minnesota farmers to breaking point

The Trump administration has tried to downplay this reality.

Last month at FarmFest, a three-day ag show here in Minnesota, several farmers made national news when they confronted U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue about the pain the president’s trade war has caused them.

In front of hundreds of other farmers, they told Perdue that contrary to the president’s tweets, farmers aren’t “doing great again.” They talked about how their markets are disappearing. One state farm leader pointed out that when a farmer meets with his lender and explains that they can’t make a payment, being a “patriot” in the eyes of the president does nothing to spare them from bankruptcy.

Even in a room full of the president’s supporters, the comments were met with nodding heads and widespread applause. Like me, the farmers in the room that day have reached their breaking point.

View the complete September 4 commentary by Tim Dufault on The StarTribune website here.

Trump might like Brexit less when he sees what it does to the economy

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s support for Britain’s exit from the European Union may be about to collide with his election-year hopes of presiding over a strong economy.

The president has long seen “Brexit” as reflecting the same sort of nationalist impulse that drove his White House upset in 2016. He has hailed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who vows to sever ties with Europe on Oct. 31 no matter what, as a kindred populist spirit.

But as British Parliament this week dealt Johnson a stunning four consecutive defeats, the prospect of further delay in leaving the E.U. or a chaotic no-deal divorce spiked.

Continuing instability in the world’s fifth-largest economy — coupled with anti-government protests in Hong Kong, a U.S.-China trade war, and financial problems in major developing countries such as Argentina and Turkey — threatens to become a drag on an already troubled global economy.

View the complete September 5 article by David Lynch on The Washington Post website here.

Trump’s ag bailout is going to the starving farmers of… Minneapolis?

To the unlettered, Donald Trump’s trade war with China doesn’t seem to fit the technical definition of “winning.” The average consumer will pay an extra $800 this year due to his import taxes on everything from shoes to televisions. And a spooked Wall Street is trading like it hasn’t stopped binging on cocaine and hookers since New Year’s.

Then again, Trump launched his career with a meager $413 million stake from daddy, beginning his meteoric rise to occasionally successful businessman. That’s why he’s president, and you and I are not.

So to lessen the casualties of this war, the president has turned to a tried and true method: the socialist redistribution of $25 billion in taxpayer money to those who need it most, big city executives.

View the complete September 3 article by Pete Kotz on The CityPages website here.

Trump’s Trade War Hits Sporting Goods

Since 1983, Kim Karsh has helped baseball teams deal with an inconvenient fact of the modern economy: Almost everything you need to play America’s homegrown sport is now made in China, from cleats to batting helmets.

Lately, supplying the game’s amateurs and fans has gotten more difficult. Karsh owns California Pro Sports in Harbor City, California, where invoices for big customers now include a caveat: Prices are up due to the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports, and they could rise further on short notice.

“We have to explain to our customers that the trade war affects them as it does us,” Karsh said. “We can pass on pretty much everything to the consumer. The problem is, now they will shop lower-quality items. Some understand, and other people don’t.”

View the complete September 3 article by Lydia DePillis with ProPublica on the National Memo website here.

Trump Says China Will Suffer as Data Shows Trade War Hurting U.S.

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — President Trump said on Tuesday that Chinese manufacturing would “crumble” if the country did not agree to the United States’ trade terms, as newly released data showed his trade war was washing back to American shores and hurting the factories that the president has aimed to protect.

Days after new tariffs went into effect on both sides of the Pacific, a closely watched index of American manufacturing activity fell to 49.1 from 51.2, signaling a contraction in United States factory activity for the first time since 2016. The companies responding to the Institute for Supply Management survey, which the index is based on, cited shrinking export orders as a result of the trade dispute, as well as the challenge of moving supply chains out of China to avoid the tariffs.

The manufacturing sector’s struggles are likely to increase as the world’s two largest economies continue to escalate their trade fight. On Sunday, Mr. Trump placed a new 15 percent tariff on a range of consumer goods, including clothing, lawn mowers, sewing machines, food and jewelry, and Beijing retaliated by increasing tariffs on $75 billion worth of American products. China also said on Monday that it was filing a complaint at the World Trade Organization over Mr. Trump’s new tariffs.

View the complete September 3 article by Ana Swanson on The New York Times website here.

Trade Mayhem Harms Working Americans Trump Claims To Love

The poorly educated are about to learn just how little Donald Trump loves them. His gratuitous trade mayhem is damaging the global economy.

That means workers in jobs requiring no more than a high school diploma may soon get let go from jobs moving goods. Longshoremen, railroad workers, teamsters, the lumpers who load trailers, warehouse workers and retail clerks are all at risk of being forced into unemployment.

Will these millions of workers grasp that Trump is abusing them to satisfy his whims? Or will they react more like battered spouses who keep returning for more abuse because they cannot see the harsh reality of their situation?

View the complete September 1 article by David Cay Johnston on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s Trade War Raised Taxes By $30 Billion

Trump’s trade war is going to cost American taxpayers an additional $30 billion taxes a year, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

“CBO estimates that all tariffs enacted under Trump are raising taxes by about $30 billion annually ($315B 2020-2029),” noted Zach Moller, deputy director of Third Way’s Economic Program. “This would rise to about $45 billion a year if announced tariffs go into effect.”

The trade war tax hike would add to Trump’s already weak record on taxes.

View the complete August 31 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Five things to know about Trump’s Labor Day weekend tariffs

The Hill logoThe Trump administration is poised to impose 15 percent tariffs on roughly $112 billion of Chinese imports on Sunday, the latest escalation in a tit for tat trade war. The latest salvo comes amid growing fears of a global economic downturn and increasing pessimism about the prospects of striking a trade deal.

Here are five things you should know about the newest round of tariffs:

The new tariffs will hit consumer goods, including some big holiday retail items.

Until now, the Trump administration has tried to shield consumers from the effects of tariffs by focusing mostly on intermediate goods, which businesses buy to make their finished products. The upcoming round of tariffs cuts directly into consumer products, meaning people will start to see an increase in their bills.

View the complete August 30 article by Niv Elis and Sylvan Lane on The Hill website here.