First, from the Director of China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, via X:
"The U.S. isn’t after our tariffs but our very survival. The US has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong … and this will eventually backfire on itself."
"Let those peasants in the United States wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization."
Wail? Well, I suppose a lot of modern music (?) sounds like that . . .
Next, from Larry Lambert, who has inside knowledge of China after years of dealing with its businessmen and officials, and speaks with authority:
Beijing thought the American leaders they made rich would protect them forever. They believed these corporate puppet masters would never let the US stand up to China. Along came Donald Trump, who owes them nothing.
The numbers don’t lie
- US exports to China: $143.5B
- Chinese imports to US: $438.9B
They flood our markets while closing or restricting THEIR markets.
Trump said: NO MORE.
Meanwhile, countries like India, Vietnam, and Bangladesh are celebrating. They’re ready to take China’s place and open their markets to the U.S. – and Trump’s willing to deal.
Chinese exporters are PANICKING
- Abandoning shipments mid-voyage
- Factory orders FROZEN
- Container volume is down 90%
And this is just the beginning. China can’t replace the U.S. market that made it rich.
Reports flooding in:
- Factories shutting down
- Amazon canceling orders
- Stores closing
- Warehouses overflowing
The house of cards is falling. CNN gives you nothing but Chinese propaganda.
CRUCIAL FACT: America buys 3X more than Japan (China’s next biggest customer).
Without us, they’re FINISHED. And they were already on the ropes.
Will this affect US consumers? Sure, briefly. For a few months, you might struggle to find cheap plastic junk.
But other countries will step up. And TRILLIONS in new investment are flowing into America, while countless factories LEAVE China.
The bottom line: China picked a fight it can’t win. While America adjusts, the CCP will face the consequences of its refusal to open its markets or abandon aggression against its neighbors. The decoupling is underway.
Rather different picture from what the mainstream media is telling us, isn't it? Who do you believe? After decades of enduring their lies and propaganda, I certainly don't believe the media . . .
If I were Taiwan, I'd be mobilizing my defense forces and preparing for invasion. Xi desperately needs a cause to take his people's minds off their economic woes. A war, a forced "reunification" with Taiwan, would do nicely for that - particularly because President Trump hasn't yet had time to undo the damage done to our armed forces by the previous administration.
Peter
17 comments:
I got to do a job in China. Specialized, only a handful of people do the work. In any event, nothing made in China could be imported. We had to inventory everything and then buy locally. Paper for writing the report, beakers for taking samples, tools, tubing, and other supplies for drawing the samples, etc.
I liked the people we worked with, but it was obvious they supported China First and China will be No. 1 in the world. No problem with that. I cam back wishing Americans would have the same attitude towards America.
And that is why I support Trump.
Everybody seems to be an "expert" speaking with authority on the internet.
Oddly we have "experts" from all sides saying different things from the "Same Facts". Most have a political axe to grind I notice.
Same sort of "experts" spoke about many things in history like how the Greeks would never stop the invincible Persian Army at the battle of Marathon.
Sorry but I'm more concerned about how this set of trade troubles is going to affect my friends and family.
Do you know how much of our critical medicines come from China OR are "made in the USA" FROM Chinese chemicals?
Heart meds, diabetes meds and so on. Stuff that kills family members in the time their resupply is critical.
Going to get ugly folks. We have a so far mostly cold civil war inside America with "shadow Governments" and all that and Israel trying to get US to fight for THEM against Iran. Our own battle of Marathon with the USA being Persians.
"The US has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong..." Hmmmm - seems to me our definition & China's definition of "suppressed" differ a little. China has shut down the democracy attempts by Hong Kongers. Britain & the U.S. have supported freedom of speech there. China uses their 5,000 year-old iron hand to maintain their idea of order.
Problem is, what are we supposed to buy from the US? Th evehicles produced there simply do not have a wide market in other countries. What do they genuinely have that other people want? I think that is the main problem. I am in Europe and have exported both to China and the US. Being honest, China was simpler to deal with.
I'm not an expert on trade with China, or any other country, but can read history and compare that with current and recent events, also with the thoughts of others, like our host and Michael, and understand this year will be interesting at the least, for economic and social conditions.
My concern is what China does in response. If I was a country ( like China) who owned a LARGE amount of US Treasury Bonds and the US was pissing all over my country...I might be tempted to dump said bonds. Isn't the dollar largely propped up by foreign owned T-Bonds?? Since we are putting tariffs on pretty much everyone and thus damaging their economies perhaps other countries will punish the Dollar in return? I like the concept of the Tariffs as the US has been screwed over even by so called allies. However, sometimes unintended consequences are really bad !
Nobody HAS to buy anything from anybody.
Every decision has consequences, benefits, and short- and long-term effects.
Importing low-civility, highly-tribal people is different than creating an environment for natives to thrive, but they are both decisions made. Who makes your important decisions?
There are many Taiwanese here in south Texas. They know that they are never going home.
I'm not sure tariffs are meant to solve a trade imbalance. Trump just wants more of our goods manufactured here. And for good reasons. How much money does a Nike sweatshop worker have available to spend on a U.S. made product anyway?? I doubt we'll ever see F 150s driven in Germany or Chevys in France. It's a mess.
Seems to me those bonds would have serial numbers. War is war. Just default on the ones owned by China. Yes it will ruin our credit, but we need stop borrowing money. Think of it like a drunk with a huge bar debt. He needs to stop drinking and it hurts the bar if he stops drinking , but the debt can never be paid. Lots of pain in the short term. If everything is going to crash, take down China at the same time. Tom
Which house of cards collapses first.... ours or Beijing's.
That's a very good question, Dan. As I've said in these pages on more than one occasion, the very parlous state of our US economy has built up over not just years, but decades, and it'll probably take years, perhaps decades, to fix it - if it can be fixed short of a crash that clears the table and "resets" everything to zero. I hope and pray we don't experience that, but it's by no means impossible, as Weimar Germany and other economic disasters illustrate.
> Which house of cards collapses first.... ours or Beijing's.
Both. You can read about our forthcoming crash in 2029 in "The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047" by Lionel Shriver
https://www.amazon.com/Mandibles-Family-2029-2047-Lionel-Shriver/dp/0062328247
When the USA crashes, so will the rest of the world. Maybe the Swiss will not crash.
China currently is the largest foreign holder of US debt, with approx $770 billion. Out of $37 trillion in debt that rounds to 2.1% of US national debt, which isn't really a whole lot of leverage.
China is not our friend. Neither are "our" politicians the Chinese have bought (to have done so makes sense from China's POV). Make of it what you will ... noting that China has its own problems.
Reagan's fighting the USSR nearly bankrupt us... but it bankrupt them first. In a trade war, you can always find new suppliers if you have money, but you can't always replace _customers_. The balance -of-trade means that if trade slows with them our GDP will GROW, because we buy a lot more things from them (that we an easily alt-source) than they buy from us. A trade-slow-down will benefit us in the long term.
Slowing international trade and making more things here, as well as fostering home-grown talent rather than maxing the short-cut of importing foreign labor and depressing wages here while replacing voters with ethnic voting blocks, will make the USA much stronger over time.
Yes, it will be a bumpy ride. So be it. Let's get it over with, rather than watch out grandchildren squabble over the bits of a decaying formerly-great country like expendable extras in a dystopian S/F novel.
Trade WAR. It has a familiar ring to it. A joyous Easter to all!
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