Tag: Trump trade war

Trump’s ‘Easy’ Trade War: A Report From The Front

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.

View the complete article here.

President Trump’s new favorite trade talking point falls apart under scrutiny

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

View the complete article here.

Trump to hit China with $16B in tariffs on Aug. 23

The following article by Niv Elis was posted on the Hill website August 7, 2018:

© Getty Images

President Trump will impose 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports starting Aug. 23, the United States Trade Representative announced Tuesday.

The tariffs will affect goods such as electronic parts, plastics, chemicals, batteries, and railway cars.

The new round of tariffs completes Trump’s threat to impose $50 billion of import taxes on Chinese goods. The first $34 billion-worth went into effect on July 6.

China has already slapped back at the U.S. with its own tariffs on American goods, specifically targeting products from politically sensitive areas. It is expected to respond in kind to the latest round of tariffs.

View the complete article here.

‘Tariffs Feed the Swamp’: Wall Street Journal Issues Scathing Editorial Against Trump’s Latest Recipe for ‘Crony Capitalism and Corruption’

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.

View the complete article here.

China retaliates with tariffs on $16 billion worth of U.S. imports after Trump’s latest trade hit

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.

View the complete article here.

Trade Works. Tariffs Don’t.

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.

View the complete post here.

Trump makes bizarre claim that tariffs will help pay down the massive U.S. debt

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.

View the complete article here.

If the Trade War Starts to Damage the Economy, Here’s How You’ll Be Able to Tell

The following article by Neil Irwin was posted on the New York Times website July 24, 2018:

Early indicators include executive surveys and futures markets.

A flag near a field of soybeans in Tiskilwa, IL early this month. Credit: Daniel Acker, Reuters

There’s no question that some American companies are feeling the bite of the trade war that the Trump administration is waging against much of the world.

As others have reported, a Missouri nail factory is laying off peoplebecause of tariffs on imported steel; Harley-Davidson plans to move some production to Europe in response to retaliatory tariffs; soybean farmers face a loss of income resulting from new Chinese import taxes.

But it’s a mistake to assume that difficulties of individual companies and industries are the same as a force powerful enough to bend the overall trajectory of the United States economy.

View the complete article here.

Corporate Giants Jump Into Trump’s Tariff Fight

The following article by Sean McMinn was posted on the Roll Call website July 24, 2018:

Microsoft, Cisco among those that started lobbying on tariffs this year

Microsoft founder Bill Gates rides the Senate escalator with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-AZ., in 2014. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call file photo

President Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war has prompted some big names to join the fight on tariffs.

Of the 20 largest spenders that indicated they were lobbying on tariffs in the most recent round of disclosure filings, nine of these companies or trade associations began doing so in the past year.

Google — which has spent about $11 million on lobbying so far this year, according to its reports to Congress — leads that list of newcomers. It reported lobbying for the first time on tariffs in the first quarter of this year. The tech giant specifically indicated it was lobbying the House and Senate on “China tariffs.”

View the complete article here.

The White House admits its trade war is hurting farmers — with a $12 billion bailout

The following article by Aaron Blake was posed on the Washington Post website July 24, 2018:

Back in April, President Trump shrugged off the pain his tariffs could cause American farmers. “We’ll make it up to them,” he said. “The farmers will be better off than they ever were. It will take a little while to get there, but it could be very quick, actually.”

Not quick enough, apparently.

The White House is set to announce what is essentially a $12 billion bailout for farmers who have been hurt by his escalating trade war, The Washington Post’s Damian Paletta reports:

View the complete article here.