China Imposes $75 Billion In Tariffs On U.S. (UPDATED)

As neo-fascist demagogue and sociopath Donald "Chosen One" Trump flies off to disrupt the G7 meeting in Paris this weekend and to do Putin's bidding, China has announced $75 billion in new tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation for Trump's imposition of $300 billion on Chinese goods to take effect on September 1 and December 15. The new tariffs will hit U.S. manufactured autos and auto parts, along with other goods.

Talks between the U.S. and China broke down in July, and Trump has suggested that U.S. industries, notably manufacturing and agriculture, would have to bear economic hardship under his trade war. Trade will be a major topic of the G7 meeting, as Trump's policy to impose tariffs on U.S. allies is threatening their economies.

BONUS:  The Very Stable Genius/ "Chosen One" is coming unglued, part infinity:

....My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019

Seen pictorially --


(Attribution: democraticunderground.com)

UPDATE:   Of course, the news has sent the Dow Jones tanking, which should send the Very Stable Genius into another tailspin.

UPDATE II:  The Very Stable Genius doubles down, imposing higher tariffs on China (by tweet, of course).

Trump's Tariff Shell Game And China's Reaction

Very Stable Genius and noted dealmaker Donald "Not Exonerated" Trump is floating his foolproof plan to bail out farmers from the effects of his trade war with China:

...Trump via Twitter on Friday indicated that the U.S. could use some of the money from tariffs on Chinese goods to buy $15 billion worth of agricultural products from American farmers, or “far more than China buys now.” The president also said U.S. agricultural products could be shopped “to poor & starving countries in the form of humanitarian assistance.”

So, U.S. taxpayers will see higher prices for goods imported from China, while Trump tries to shelter those who would be hurt by China retaliating for his tariffs with direct subsidies.  Sounds like a plan only a lifelong grifter would come up with.  Also, as former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack points out, those "poor & starving countries" where Trump thinks our agricultural products could be dumped would have issues, not the least of which being,

“They would prefer to take cash because they don’t want to disrupt their own agricultural economy by having foreign crops come in and displace domestically produced crops.”

This, and the difficulties of carving out appropriations for a $15 billion bailout, might have been more evident had any attention been paid to people who actually know stuff, but are now exiting government:

Economists in the Agriculture Department's research branch say the Trump administration is retaliating against them for publishing reports that shed negative light on White House policies, spurring an exodus that included six of them quitting the department on a single day in late April.

The Economic Research Service — a source of closely read reports on farm income and other topics that can shape federal policy, planting decisions and commodity markets — has run afoul of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue with its findings on how farmers have been financially harmed by President Donald Trump's trade feuds, the Republican tax code rewrite and other sensitive issues, according to current and former agency employees.

Of course, China (with whom we do have serious trade issues) is not taking Trump's bull- shitter- in- a- China- shop routine lying down, imposing a 25% tariff on over 2,500 U.S. products and a 20% tariff on over 1,000 more, worth approximately $60 billion:

It includes food products, such as meat, honey, bamboo, frozen peas and spinach, roasted coffee, green teas, various oils, fruit juice and stuffed pasta.

Alcoholic drinks such as beer, wine and gin are also on the list.

Many chemicals are listed, as is manufacturing equipment such as vacuum moulding, wire-drawing and cable-making machines.

On the consumer side, televisions, headphones, DVD players, cameras, telescopes, alarm clocks, instruments such as pianos, buttons, and fishing rods will now be much pricier.

There’s also a new 20% tariff list covering over 1,000 products.

This 20% tariff will hit also hit food (frozen strawberries, shelled peanuts), chemicals, books, some steel products, copper pipes, batteries and power supplies, photography equipment, brushes..... and consumer products such as golf clubs, bowling pins, roller skates, pens, pencils and antiques.

To Americans involved in these industries who will be headed for harder times because their export market to China is drying up, please thank the loser who doesn't understand how tariffs work;  and for those of you watching the stock market and your IRAs, a quick 10% loss is quite possible. The Trump economy!

(Photo:  Wile E. Coyote's got nothing on him!)

Trump Caught Lying About His China Trade Deal; "Completely Fabricated"

The smart money boys aren't buying what simpleton con man Donald "Rump" Trump is selling on his yuuuge China tariff pause:

"It doesn’t seem like anything was actually agreed to at the dinner and White House officials are contorting themselves into pretzels to reconcile Trump’s tweets (which seem if not completely fabricated then grossly exaggerated) with reality." - JPM trading note

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) December 4, 2018

Here's the JP Morgan note excerpt:

Pretzels:

President Trump’s top economic advisors pushed back Monday on his claim that China has agreed to eliminate tariffs on U.S. auto imports, saying no such agreement had been struck. 

The unusual dispute was the latest to suggest that Trump’s handshake agreement on trade during a working dinner Saturday night in Argentina with Chinese President Xi Jinping remains open to divergent interpretation, even in the White House.

"Q. How can you tell he's lying?  A. His lips are moving."  Never more true than with this p.o.s.

BONUS:  Now even Big Brain Trump is walking back some of the puffery.

BONUS II: The stock market isn't buying Rump's b.s. apparently; the market plunged more than 700 points this morning, uncertain about what was actually agreed to with China.

Beans

As soybean farmers gather around their Thanksgiving tables tomorrow, let them give thanks to the cancer many of them voted for:

President Donald Trump’s 'America First' trade policies have led to a 94 per cent cut in US soybean exports to China, forcing farmers in America’s midwest to stockpile crops and hope relief comes before the rot. 

After decades in which American soybean farmers were able to build considerable business by selling a huge share of their crop to China, farmers across the US are seeing the largest market destination for one of the country’s largest crops drying up.

#MAGA!

Trump's Trade War With China Begins

That sound you hear is dominoes falling.

The Man Baby plays with matches:

The United States imposed the first duties on $34 billion in Chinese goods early Friday and China immediately retaliated, launching a commercial battle that analysts fear could shake markets and cramp global business. 

As Beijing fired back with tariffs of its own, it accused the U.S. of violating WTO rules and setting off “the largest trade war in economic history to date.”   

“In order to defend the core interests of the country and the interests of the people, we are forced to retaliate,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.  

The Asian nation slapped levies on an equal amount of American goods, including heartland staples like soybeans, corn, pork and poultry — a move President Trump said would compel him to hit China with another round of duties on up to $500 billion in products.

Surprise!  The Man Baby and his crime family won't personally get burned:

As the Trump administration initiates a possible trade war with China, the president’s businesses continue to benefit from partnerships involving the Chinese government, via state-backed companies and investors. 

Chinese government-backed firms are slated to work on parts of two large developments — in Dubai and Indonesia — that will include Trump-branded properties. 

The Trumps are the landlord to one of China’s top state-owned banks, which has occupied the 20th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan since 2008. The bank’s lease is worth close to $2 million annually, according to industry estimates and a bank filing. 

And despite the Trump administration’s focus on American manufacturing, assembly-line workers in China still produce blouses, shoes and handbags for the clothing line created by Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a White House adviser. 

The tariffs that were set to kick in at 12:01 a.m. Friday are not expected to affect the Trumps’ financial interests...

Surprise II!  China is using The Man Baby's trade wars as leverage the U.S. once had in containing China to contain the U.S.:

... [O]ur unilateralism and contempt for international trade rules have given China an opening that should never have existed in the first place, especially since Europe has virtually the same complaints about Chinese trade practices that we do. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s temper tantrum seems to have driven China closer to other countries it has had strained relationships with, such as  India and Japan. 

Trump has also unwittingly given a shot of adrenaline to the 16-party Asian regional trade deal that would cover half the world’s economy. Unlike the TPP, the United States is not a party to these negotiations — but China is.

The Man Baby was so desperate to kill our involvement in President Obama's Trans Pacific Partnership that, in doing so, he handed China, with its own 16- member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a massive geo- economic boost and leadership in the powerhouse east Asian market. 

We also have the reality of big business, who positively slavered at the prospect of the Republican tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy that the Man Baby would sign, reaping what they've been (and still are) sowing:

The imminent prospect of a trade war, it seems, concentrates the mind. Until very recently, big business and the institutions that represent its interests didn’t seem to be taking President Trump’s protectionist rhetoric very seriously. After all, corporations have invested trillions based on the belief that world markets would remain open, that U.S. industry would retain access to both foreign customers and foreign suppliers.
Trump wouldn’t put all those investments at risk, would he? 

Yes, he would ... [snip]  

The thing is, big business is reaping what it sowed. No single cause brought us to this terrible moment in American history, but decades of cynical politics on the part of corporate America certainly played an important role. 

What do I mean by cynical politics? Partly I mean the tacit alliance between businesses and the wealthy, on one side, and racists on the other, that is the essence of the modern conservative movement. 

For a long time business seemed to have this game under control: win elections with racial dog whistles, then turn to an agenda of tax cuts and deregulation. But sooner or later something like Trump was going to happen: a candidate who meant the racism seriously, with the enthusiastic support of the Republican base, and couldn’t be controlled.

As the Man Baby's trade wars with the rest of the planet proceed, more jobs will be lost, more farms will fail, and the test of whether white nationalist nativism or self- preservation will win out among the Man Baby's cultists will be upon us.  We're not betting on self- preservation.