This morning Trump has been tweeting about the new tariffs on China that went into effect last night due to the imbalance he wants to erase. Here’s what he said:
We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
Talks with China continue in a very congenial manner – there is absolutely no need to rush – as Tariffs are NOW being paid to the United States by China of 25% on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods & products. These massive payments go directly to the Treasury of the U.S….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
….The process has begun to place additional Tariffs at 25% on the remaining 325 Billion Dollars. The U.S. only sells China approximately 100 Billion Dollars of goods & products, a very big imbalance. With the over 100 Billion Dollars in Tariffs that we take in, we will buy…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
….agricultural products from our Great Farmers, in larger amounts than China ever did, and ship it to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance. In the meantime we will continue to negotiate with China in the hopes that they do not again try to redo deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
Tariffs will bring in FAR MORE wealth to our Country than even a phenomenal deal of the traditional kind. Also, much easier & quicker to do. Our Farmers will do better, faster, and starving nations can now be helped. Waivers on some products will be granted, or go to new source!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
He also added…
Tariffs will make our Country MUCH STRONGER, not weaker. Just sit back and watch! In the meantime, China should not renegotiate deals with the U.S. at the last minute. This is not the Obama Administration, or the Administration of Sleepy Joe, who let China get away with “murder!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2019
Against all of this, China says they are going to retaliate:
China vowed to retaliate against the United States for President Trump on Friday sharply hiking tariffs on exports from the world’s second-biggest economy, as trade negotiations between the two nations resumed.
One minute after midnight the U.S. increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese exports to 25 percent from 10 percent.
Beijing promptly vowed to retaliate with “necessary countermeasures” in a major escalation of the year-old trade conflict that has roiled global stock markets and increased costs for consumers.
“China deeply regrets that it will have to take necessary countermeasures,” China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
If Trump manages to turn China around on this it will be huge. But I can see it going the other way as well, with a long trade war ensuing that hurts the consumer.