China's Xi has a key advantage over Trump in any trade war
U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with China’s President Xi Jinping
at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
If the world’s two largest economies are heading toward a trade war, time is on China’s side.
“Don’t forget: The Chinese have a very long-term view,” Bloomberg News Chief Content Officer Marty Schenker argued on Wednesday, while noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping no longer has term limits. “He’s going to be there long after Donald Trump is gone. So they’re in this for the long haul, and they’re playing hardball.”
On Tuesday evening, the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on more than 1,000 industrial technology, transport, and medical products amounting to about $50 billion in 2018 imports. China swiftly countered with proportional tariffs of up to 25% on more than 100 U.S. goods. The latest move followed a previous round of reciprocal tariffs worth about $3 billion.
Tags
Who is online
61 visitors
“Even though China and the U.S. have not publicly said they are in a trade war, the sparks of such a war have already started to fly,” an editorial in China’s government-backed Global Times newspaper announced.
“There are some people in the West who think that China looks tough for the sake of a domestic audience, and would easily make concessions. But they are wrong.”
A important point as stated, Xi isn't facing term limits. He's President for life right now, that, with the Chinese very long term outlook puts us at a disadvangage.
China is very good at playing a game of advantages. One has to look at what they are doing in Asia. Soon many of the asian countries will be under the banner of China when it comes to trade. ''In the Chinese spere of influence'' so to speak. Even Russia is falling under that spell...Russia exports next to nothing in any consumer goods. Their big export is oil and gas...Currently Russia has increased their oil export to China four fold...That should ring a bell somewhere.
I'm sure many Americans are not aware of the amount of farm products that we export to China. Soybeans, grain etc do not register high on our ''alert meter''..The fact is that with China putting tariffs on soybeans and other farm products our farmers are going to get slammed by China.
We have two giants squaring off, getting ready for the main event. If it continues it's not going to be pretty. The American consumer and our exporters are going to suffer.
There’s no telling how long the trade tensions will last. Trump faces pressure that don’t exist for Xi, including criticism for market turmoil and political risks in the run-up to 2018 midterm elections.
In any case, markets are jittery as China patiently matches the Trump administration’s moves.
“This is a game of chicken, with both sides seeing the other as the bigger chicken,” Scott Kennedy, a China scholar at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Bloomberg . “They are positioned in a way that could create miscalculations on both sides and create an escalatory ladder.”
In a Trade War with the United States the Chinese will win for one simple fact. Xi Jinping is the President for life and has no opposition at all. He is a dictator and can hold out as long as he tells his people to and Trump does not have that advantage. He can under price his products at a loss so that even with the tariffs they still cost about the same in the U.S.. Withhold selling some. Sell to different markets.
On the other hand Trump has big businesses to answer too who are already paying higher prices for steel and aluminum and consumers who will soon be paying higher prices for products for Canada and Europe. And if he is stupid enough to pull out of NAFTA and essentially declare Mexico an enemy, which a lot of his lying, hateful, anti-Mexico rhetoric has seemed that he wants to do, he has been handing gold the Leftist Presidential candidate for the upcoming election for the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, putting him firmly in first place. He will isolate America further, with fewer allies and weaker.
Unfortunately Justin Trudeau will go along with whatever disadvantages Trump imposes on Canada and what this trade battle is doing is increasing the value of the yuan against the American dollar and the Canadian dollar trails along lockstep with the American one. That makes my Canadian pension dollars have less buying power here, and that hurts me personally, because I am surviving here on both Canadian and American dollar income.
China's Xi has a key advantage over Trump in any trade war
Yes and it is glaring. Mr. Xi has a brain, Mr. Trump not so much. As noted the Chinese play the long game, no need for instant gratification they'll just grind it out and us down.