Tag: Trump trade policy

Foreigners Boycott Trump’s America

The following article by Froma Harrop was posted on the Creators.com website July 19, 2018:

Credit: WMTV

Are President Trump’s threats and insults against our allies just an obnoxious negotiating tactic? It hardly matters, because they haven’t worked. And it’s worse than not working. Trump has turned “made in America” into consumer poison around the globe.

Trump is not content to wage a simple war on trade, itself an economically ignorant endeavor. He feels compelled to also dump invective on the foreigners who buy our goods and services. Whether to entertain his base or to serve the interests of Vladimir Putin, the result is long-lasting damage to our producers. No discernable American interest hides in this rubble.

China is playing it cool so far, but it can also play it hot. When South Korea last year deployed a missile shield — seen as a hostile move in China — a Chinese celebrity told her 2.7 million followers on social media to boycott Korean products. In a mere month, the Korean carmaker Hyundai saw its market share in China fall by nearly half.

View the complete article here.

Senate Republicans drop bid to block Trump from helping Chinese telecom giant ZTE

The following article by Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website July 20, 2018:

President Trump, right, andChinese leader Xi Credit: Andy Wong, AP

Senate Republicans have dropped their attempt to reimpose U.S. sanctions on the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE, lawmakers said Friday, a victory for President Trump as congressional Republicans abandoned a rare effort to thwart his agenda.

The retreat means ZTE, a company found guilty of selling U.S. goods to Iran in violation of sanctions, will duck Commerce Department penalties that bar U.S. companies from doing business with it.

U.S. and Chinese officials had said those penalties would effectively put ZTE out of business.

View the complete article here.

Across Midwest, Farmers Warn of G.O.P. Losses Over Trump’s Trade Policy

The following article by Jonathan Martin was posted on the New York Times website April 18, 2018:

William Hejl of North Dakota is among the many Midwestern farmers in both political parties who are alarmed by the threat of Chinese tariffs on American agriculture and think Republicans could pay a political price. Credit: Dan Koeck, New York Times

CASSELTON, N.D. — Here in the largest soybean-producing county in the country, a snowy winter has left North Dakota farmers like Robert Runck with time on their hands before spring planting — time they have spent stewing over how much they stand to lose if President Trump starts a trade war with China.

“If he doesn’t understand what he’s doing to the nation by doing what he’s doing, he’s going to be a one-term president, plain and simple,” said Mr. Runck, a fourth-generation farmer who voted for Mr. Trump. Pausing outside the post office in this town of 2,300, Mr. Runck said the repercussions could be more immediate for Representative Kevin Cramer, a Republican whose bid against Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, has been complicated by the proposed tariffs. Continue reading “Across Midwest, Farmers Warn of G.O.P. Losses Over Trump’s Trade Policy”