trade war

Fears grow that a phase two accord between Beijing and Washington will struggle to get off the drawing board
Gordon WATTS

Submitted by Steve Brown…
On the US dollar as reserve currency, that is a tough thing to break especially for China since the yuan is not freely convertible. China has renminbi and yuan; one they peg to the dollar and the other is circulated in China. Try converting USD to yuan in Paypal for example?  The option is not there. Payments from the west to china sellers by Paypal (for example) are only in dollars.

New EU leadership vows to use ‘language of power’ to push more forcefully bloc’s trade and security agendas
David HUTT, PRAGUE

The week started with Señor Trumpanzee announcing an expansion of his trade war antics against Brazil, Argentina and France (and its only Wednesday!)-- followed by grandstanding self-destructive nonsense about trade with China that caused domestic and world markets to crash.Bloomberg reporters Derek Wallbank and

A NY Fed study shows what anyone with any sense has long known, namely that Trump was full of shit last year when he claimed China would be paying for his trade war tariffs by cutting the prices on Chinese goods to absorb import taxes (as much as 25%) when the goods hit U.S. shores.

Submitted by IFIMES…
Does our history only appear overheated, while it is essentially calmly predetermined? Is it directional or conceivable, dialectic and eclectic or cyclical, and therefore cynical? Surely, our history warns. Does it also provide for a hope? Hence, what is in front of us: destiny or future?

Abe may have outmaneuvered an in-a-hurry Trump with their FTA, but looking forward, risks remain high
William PESEK
In an anxiously awaited speech on his China trade war this week, US President Donald Trump spent a surprising amount of time talking about – well, Japan.

A 10 percent drop in manufacturing and dwindling investment due to tariffs could lose him the election
Jon Basil UTLEY
Decisions based on false or misleading information can lead to wrong and harmful solutions. The constant harping on Chinese trade having “cost” America millions of jobs is false, especially given what we now know: that 85 percent of American job losses have resulted from technology, not trade.

It surprised me to see Trump's coalition in the Midwest falling apart. In the most recent Morning Consult state-by-state Trump tracker, it doesn't look like rural America will be coming to his rescue in 2020. His net approval in state after state he won in 2016 in underwater:

Without consulting Congress, Trump started a disastrous trade war with China that has, for example, destroyed the American soy bean sector-- likely forever. The economies of rural counties across the country are already in recession. Dairy farms, corn farmers, wheat farmers... are all suffering from Trump's policies as well.