The Trump tariff fight
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The Trump administration’s aggressive trade policies have reshaped international commerce, with President Trump freezing tariffs at 10% for most countries for 90 days to encourage negotiations, as announced earlier this month.
However, tariffs on Chinese goods have surged to 145%, prompting China to retaliate with a 125% tariff on U.S. imports. A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman criticized the U.S. approach, stating, “The United States has abused tariffs on all its trading partners under the banner of so-called ‘reciprocity,’ while at the same time forcing all parties to start so-called ‘reciprocal tariff negotiations’ with it.”
Trump, undeterred, emphasized America’s resolve on Sunday, saying, “It’s good to see that the World knows we are serious, because WE ARE! They must right the wrongs of decades of abuse, but it won’t be easy for them.”
As the U.S. forges new trade agreements, with roughly 130 countries engaging in talks, China is actively seeking to bolster its own alliances. Chinese President Xi Jinping has recently courted Vietnam and Malaysia, urging them to defend “an open and cooperative international environment,” according to The New York Times.
Beijing has also reached out to Japan, South Korea, and the European Union to counter the impact of Trump’s tariffs. The Chinese government’s defiant stance was clear in its statement: “Appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise cannot be respected.”
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Trump clearly believes that the current situation is unfair to the US and is using tariffs as a means to get a more level playing field. I suspect that China has more to lose in this fight than Trump does. That is, that the US has been buying more from China than China has been buying from the US.
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