I've been reading and hearing the spin from Trump officials and supporters of how trade with other countries is insignificant to the overall US economy hence they're not worried. This coming from a country where the stock price of a company is everything. The stock price of a company can fall just because it didn't make as much money as projected. It still made a profit close to what was projected but because it didn't the stock price drops. Look at the cascade effect of steel tariffs.
Some of the US's premier corporations have China accounting for 20% of their sales. I notice this time around of Trump's tariff threats, the media is attempting to put the focus on how it's hurting China. Trying to scare China into backing down? I'm sure it'll affect China but the damage will be more on the US and not in just dollars. Also China is not a democracy. Trump was crying foul because China's retaliatory tariffs are targeting his voter base. They say that's $19 billion US farmers won't be making from China in soybeans alone. It's only $19 billion... I was watching a YouTube video from the WJS on China's cashless society and the argument made why it hasn't really been embraced by Americans is because of all the privacy concerns and in regards to China, there's no individual rights. One of the points made on the differences is China acts communally so the rights of the individual are not as important. In the US Americans will vote first by how whatever affects them personally. $19 billion in soybeans translates to many times more in political capital in a democracy.
Maybe if the US didn't have trade barriers for China buying anything it can't produce for itself, China would be dependent on the US just like its allies. Maybe there wouldn't be this so-called huge "trade deficit" in favor of China. But instead they now worry over Made in China 2025 initiative. So worried they want China to commit to not advancing technologically so they can do what they're doing to ZTE and they don't even bother to try hiding their ultimate insidious intentions. About 20% of China's exports go to the US. Over 60% of that are foreign corporations outsourcing their products they alone profit from to be made in China shipping them to the US to be sold.
Abe of Japan is pushing for RCEP now. What happened to TPP? Wasn't it suppose to reign in China forcing it under their will by excluding China? Now he's pushing for RCEP that includes China? Won't the rules of both organizations conflict? Who thinks China is going to join RCEP where Japan writes all the rules? Hence why TPP is going no where to which why Abe is pushing RCEP. I was watching the news round table shows this morning and even the typical European pundits are talking about advocating China's economic inclusion more to prevent everyone from being dependent on only the US.
