As expected, TDS'rs are great at bitching and moaning, but when asked how they would go about doing something better than Trump, there is eerie silence..
I will take Trump's approach to China until someone shows me a better alternative.(will never happen)
GL with Chelsea.
Nice deflection but I have criticized how all Presidents have handled trade issues rather than accept it all blindly and be fooled by the stories the media fed you. Many praise a deal signed by Trump but criticize a deal signed by Obama so that is hypocritical. I am consistent.
This is how your President handled China:
In a meeting last week, President Trump gave the green light to begin approving the licenses, which will allow a select few American companies to bypass a ban his administration placed on Huawei this year.
I would never have given Huawei ANYTHING - that is my first recommendation. Trump caved to China. WEAKNESS.
I would have had a meeting with several countries and develop a coordinated plan to address China's barriers to market entry. What did Trump do? Antagonize Germany and France and other EU nations. If several countries started pushing back on China then real reforms could have been done but Trump just ran like a bull in a china shop. He also alienated many Latin American countries who China is now courting heavily and entering into trade deals to buy products from them in exchange for more exports from china. China is trying to show they don't need us if we decide to play rough.
Tariffs were the wrong first choice because the importer pays the tariffs. You need to hit China where it hurts, in the international markets. Start working with Southeast Asia and Latin American countries to develop new industrial and production centers. the best way to hit China is to show you do not necessarily need them for cheaply made shit. When manufacturing moves offshore then the country will make reforms. Same thing happened in Japan to a small degree. U.S. still sits on its ass.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and many other countries in ASEAN also wish to compete better with China. We never reached to work with them in new trade deals or MFN status policies.
US should focus on being more proactive in APEC.
If China will not protect IP rights, then simply ban music/software/clothing and anything else they find violates IP rights of others. we don't need cheap knock offs from China.
US should work with the WTO to enforce what China agreed to since the Uruguay Rounds which goes back more than 20 years.
U.S. should stop the fantasy of bringing back manufacturing and production to the U.S., we are too expensive and cannot compete. Look to make deals with non-China countries to redirect offshoring to those countries and away from China. Strike trade deals with ASEAN and APEC countries to give incentives for production to go to those countries and export back to the U.S. to marginalize China. This is what a great deal maker would do, not Trump.
So many ways to address this combined efforts working with other nations but that is not Trump's style and has not been pushed enough by others.
But bottom line the way to deal with China is marginalize them and work with other partners. Trump does not play well with others and handles all issues unilaterally or bullies Germany to comply with our policy.
I could go on and on but it would bore you and you would come up with another deflection how great a vague trade agreement is.
