Zero Hedge: US And China Brace For Trade War That Could Rattle Global Economy
As we reported last week, the US non-petroleum trade deficit with China and Mexico - two of its largest trading partners - climbed to its highest level for a 12-month period in December, an embarrassing development for the Trump administration, which has repeatedly promised to protect US industry by raising trade barriers.
However, the rising deficit, bolstered by a weakening US dollar, could ratchet up the political urgency of the Trump administration’s trade agenda. And as the Wall Street Journal points out, the White House is preparing a mix of tariffs and quotas to confront the growing economic threat from China. Though this confrontation could be potentially disruptive for the global system of free trade, even potentially leading to the collapse of the World Trade Organization, a group the Trump administration believes China should never have been allowed to join.
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WNU Editor: President Trump is right when he says that this is not sustainable .... Rein in your trade deficit with the U.S., Trump warns China's president Xi in blunt phone talks after imbalance grew again (Daily Mail). More here .... Trump Tells Xi U.S. Trade Deficit With China ‘Not Sustainable (Bloomberg). My prediction .... China believes that if a trade war breaks out, they will win because their citizens are more experienced when it comes to hardship. Hmmmm .... I am not sure about that. Even though the economic numbers are showing a boom in the U.S. economy, many Americans are experiencing hardships now, and may feel that they have nothing to lose. In China .... it is the reverse .... there is a great deal of expectation that things will get better, and if they do not .... there will be blow-back against the Chinese government.