The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

Donald Trump’s 60% solution; Trump’s proposed 60% tariff on Chinese imports would shut down the world economy.

AsiaTimes by David Goldman • February 14, 2024 // Business Insider; Politico

Former President Donald Trump says he will introduce tariffs of more than 60% on Chinese goods if he wins November’s election.

“No, I would say maybe it’s going to be more than that,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” when host Maria Bartiromo referenced a report by The Washington Post. The Post reported that Trump was considering a flat 60% tariff on Chinese imports.

The former president brushed aside claims that he would start another trade war if elected in 2024.

“You know, obviously, I’m not looking to hurt China. I want to get along with China. I think it’s great. But they’ve really taken advantage of our country,” Trump told Bartiromo in an interview that aired Sunday.

When asked for comment, a representative for the Trump campaign pointed to Trump’s campaign and policy platform on trade.

The Trump administration was known for its strident approach toward trade relations with China. China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would be forced to take “synchronized countermeasures” to defend its own interests against the latest US tariffs, escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

Back in 2018, Trump directed his administration to start imposing tariffs on various Chinese goods. This resulted in a tit-for-tat trade war when China retaliated with its own slate of tariffs.

“I won’t tell you now because that would really jeopardize my negotiating ability with China. So I don’t talk about those things. It’s very hard to say. I would or I wouldn’t — they know what I do, and they know where I stand. And we won’t have a problem,” Trump said.

During the interview, the former president also said that he believes, without any evidence, that the Chinese Communist Party is behind the surge in Chinese migrants and illegal immigration at the Southern border and that he believes China will interfere in the US elections.

The Chinese leader personally told Biden, according to CNN, he would not interfere in the 2024 election when they met in November, although the US intelligence community has reported that China increased its efforts to meddle with American politics during the 2022 midterms.

“The US can’t put a 60% tariff on imports from China, any more than Trump can fly off the Trump Tower roof,” writes David Goldman. “The consequences of trying either stunt, though, would be similar.”

As president, Trump slapped tariffs of 25% on $50 billion of Chinese goods in June 2018. Beijing countered with its own tariffs, and the spiral continued until the two countries arrived at an agreement in 2020. The Biden administration has largely kept the Trump-era tariffs in place.

“And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, who shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet roundabout; and I will set judgement before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgements.

“And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee. They shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire” Ezekiel 23:24-25

~ by Japheth on February 22, 2024.

Posted in China, US