President Donald Trump is willing to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping to end the increasingly harmful trade war between the U.S. and China triggered by Trump on July 6.
This possibility was held out by Larry Kudlow, Director of the National Economic Council and one of the architects of the trade war aimed at punishing China for its theft of U.S intellectual property and redressing the huge U.S. trade deficit with China.
Kudlow said Trump stands ready to talk with Xi as early as this month at the United Nations General Assembly or later this year at the Group of 20 meeting in Argentina. Economists said Kudlow's comments suggest the U.S. wants a deal with China to end Trump's trade war before it worsens further.
But the trade war will definitely worsen when the U.S. hits China with $200 billion in new tariffs as early as this month. Trump has boasted he stands ready to tax a new set of Chinese exports to the U.S. worth $267 billion within the next three months. Should the U.S. push through with these threats, it will mean it will tax all of China's exports to the USA within the year.
Kudlow, however, contradicted his conciliatory tone by saying the United States plans to assemble a coalition of the willing to attack China on trade. The U.S. wants that coalition to include the European Union, Japan, and other allies. Kudlow said the Chinese may find themselves more isolated if they don't come into the global process.
Establishing a coalition of the willing is nonsense since most of the countries Trump wants to include in it are victims of his unwarranted trade war. Why these countries should help Trump push this trade war is a fantasy that borders on lunacy, said some analysts.
Trump's animosity towards U.S. allies and its largest trading partners was made manifest on Sept. 7 when he threatened to slap tariffs on auto imports. He boasted a tax on cars will be the "ruination" of some countries, including Canada and Germany.
Trump also threatened Japan in the same breath. He said Japan will have a "big problem" if it doesn't conclude a new trade deal with the U.S.
U.S. businesses are warning that Trump's infantile trade war will damage the U.S. economy and harm American consumers. Also last Friday, Apple Inc. said in a letter the government's proposed tariffs on $200 billion cover a wide range of products used in its U.S. operations.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) tweeted that levying duties on all Chinese purchases would hit every aspect of our American lifestyle. RILA also said the new tariffs will harm American students. The math is simple, said RILA. Tariffs = increasing the cost of school supplies like book bags, binders, and glue. This is going to hurt American families (not China) during the back to school season that begins this month (September).
Based in Virginia, RILA promotes consumer choice and economic freedom through public policy and industry operational excellence.
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America were even more infuriated than RILA at the trade war with China. "In one word, disaster," it said. RILA said punishing American children for the crimes of its neighbors (China) seems like a ridiculous thing for all of us to think it would be effective.
