Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/tough-talk-on-global-trade-escalates-as-trump-claims-results-10073124
24 Mar 2018 05:32AM
Jm Chow
Let's keep score.
First short by USA : Trump levy tough tariff on imports of steel and alluminum from China.
China hit back: Tariff on 3 billions worth of products from the USA..including Agricultural and meat products.
Second short from USA: High tariffs on US$60 billion of Chinese imports.
China's response : Asked Trump to stop this job- killing game ..no good for the people in the USA, China and people around the world.
If Trump say no... then China will impose high tariffs on $60 billions worth of imports from the USA.
China is matching Trump ... shot by shot...play by play... China has what it takes ...and is prepared to play the game ... to the bitter end. (according to the Chinese Ambassador to the USA)
At this juncture, blaming China will not help...will not stop this war game...
Trump started this trade war...Americans are also the victims of this trade war ...will suffer the BAD consequences.(needless to say the Chinese people suffer more)
Trump is a good businessman...good at making small deals.. a billion or two..
Obviously Trump is not up to par...on how to make deals at the highest leve..at the level of national economies. The gargantuan trade volumes... is way beyond his intellectual grasp.
He does not know... a trade war is NEVER a good deal. NO one wins.
First short by USA : Trump levy tough tariff on imports of steel and alluminum from China.
China hit back: Tariff on 3 billions worth of products from the USA..including Agricultural and meat products.
Second short from USA: High tariffs on US$60 billion of Chinese imports.
China's response : Asked Trump to stop this job- killing game ..no good for the people in the USA, China and people around the world.
If Trump say no... then China will impose high tariffs on $60 billions worth of imports from the USA.
China is matching Trump ... shot by shot...play by play... China has what it takes ...and is prepared to play the game ... to the bitter end. (according to the Chinese Ambassador to the USA)
At this juncture, blaming China will not help...will not stop this war game...
Trump started this trade war...Americans are also the victims of this trade war ...will suffer the BAD consequences.(needless to say the Chinese people suffer more)
Trump is a good businessman...good at making small deals.. a billion or two..
Obviously Trump is not up to par...on how to make deals at the highest leve..at the level of national economies. The gargantuan trade volumes... is way beyond his intellectual grasp.
He does not know... a trade war is NEVER a good deal. NO one wins.
Ricky Lim ·
Jessis Ng - "The EU must be united and determined ... if we are attacked we will react without weakness," Macron said at the end of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
"We talk about everything in principle with a friendly country that respects WTO rules. Nothing should be addressed when it is with a gun to your head", he said referring to the World Trade Organization, the body that handles trade disputes.
---
Let see eventually will Trump win or lose big.
The World will slam Trump one by one.
Trump has no friends, Trump has turn all his friends, allies into adversaries.
Because a true friend and true allies will not hurt a true friend or a true allies.
Only Trump will do it.
"We talk about everything in principle with a friendly country that respects WTO rules. Nothing should be addressed when it is with a gun to your head", he said referring to the World Trade Organization, the body that handles trade disputes.
---
Let see eventually will Trump win or lose big.
The World will slam Trump one by one.
Trump has no friends, Trump has turn all his friends, allies into adversaries.
Because a true friend and true allies will not hurt a true friend or a true allies.
Only Trump will do it.
Like · Reply · 1m
Sheen Zong San
Why does China very much NOT want a trade war? Because China knows it has a lot to lose. Lots and lots to lose. China has grown in strength and become such a big bully through only ONE thing - and that is unfair trade. The free world has shown great friendship to China, but is rewarded with disdain, deception, aggression and bullying. The free world is partly to blame, for it is greedy and tempted by the money it can make out of the 1 billion Chinese people. It forgets greed, as well as foolishness, can become one's downfall. Now China's aim, which includes its 1.4 billion people's aim, is to beat USA and become the strongest, the Number 1 country, in the world. Its greatest fear is not that USA will fight it on free and fair trade, but that the rest of the world will follow the USA and start questioning whether trading with China as it has always been traded is detrimental to their own countries in the long run.
Ricky Lim ·
With Trump breaking the WTO rules.
With Trump declaring tariff and targeting the globe, that show Trump is a big bully ---- will see how Trump is going to get himself burnt when China, EU and the rest take turn to retaliate back.
With Trump declaring tariff and targeting the globe, that show Trump is a big bully ---- will see how Trump is going to get himself burnt when China, EU and the rest take turn to retaliate back.
Like · Reply · 1m
Daniel Webb
Trade wars is not good for anyone. When WTO said that the US abuse the WTO rules, the US is at fault. International trade should be won by other means, eg. competitive advantages. Surprisingly trump did not understand economic. How did he get his degree in Finance? Pay $130,000 for it?
Like · Reply · 4h
Sheen Zong San
The USA is going for bilateral trade deals - what a BRILLIANT Trump idea. If the WTO is not such a good idea after all, then dump it. After all, countries like China are breaking even more important international rules, like the South China Sea ruling. Let those who want to remain, remain, let those who want to out, out. But I can assure you that - EU without the USA will be swallowed up by you know who. Better for them to open their eyes now. They are already in deep trouble.
Ricky Lim ·
Sheen Zong San - I think you are beyond corrigible - and you have the nerve to say dismantle WTO in favour of bilateral trade deals?
You are breaking the rice bowls of the whole World.
You are worst than a fool and you have no knowledge of Economics.
I suggest you keep your 2 eyes open and see how Trump will be beaten by the World and taught a good lesson - including you.
You claim you are a Singaporean but yet you sound more like a traitor - who work against Singapore and the World interest. You seems to be a mole planted by Trump.
And you give yourself a "chinese name" - but have searing hatred on China.
And you call yourself Sheen Zong San which sound like 孙中山。You must be from Taiwan.
You are breaking the rice bowls of the whole World.
You are worst than a fool and you have no knowledge of Economics.
I suggest you keep your 2 eyes open and see how Trump will be beaten by the World and taught a good lesson - including you.
You claim you are a Singaporean but yet you sound more like a traitor - who work against Singapore and the World interest. You seems to be a mole planted by Trump.
And you give yourself a "chinese name" - but have searing hatred on China.
And you call yourself Sheen Zong San which sound like 孙中山。You must be from Taiwan.
Like · Reply · 1m
Ricky Lim ·
Sheen Zong San - you tried to instigate discord against our national interest and the World interest --- for your own private agenda.
You offend China, you compromise Singapore interest, you try to drive a wedge between SE Asia with China and try to destabilise the region here.
And you instigate the WTO that provide prosperity to the World to be dismantled and try to curry favor with Trump for your own hidden private agenda.
You are a true mole and a traitor - that need to be guard against.
You offend China, you compromise Singapore interest, you try to drive a wedge between SE Asia with China and try to destabilise the region here.
And you instigate the WTO that provide prosperity to the World to be dismantled and try to curry favor with Trump for your own hidden private agenda.
You are a true mole and a traitor - that need to be guard against.
Like · Reply · 1m
Ricky Lim ·
Trump Wants His Cabinet To Serve His Ego, Not The Nation
Neil J. Young,HuffPost 5 hours ago
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And Sheen Zong San you are one of them.
You work to curry Trump's ego for your own private agenda -- at the expense of World's interest, not even US interest.
Trump has sacrifices his Countrymen's interest, their business, their jobs, the consumer's interest, US Economy to serve his ego.
You work to serve your own personal agenda at the expenses of everyone else.
Neil J. Young,HuffPost 5 hours ago
--
And Sheen Zong San you are one of them.
You work to curry Trump's ego for your own private agenda -- at the expense of World's interest, not even US interest.
Trump has sacrifices his Countrymen's interest, their business, their jobs, the consumer's interest, US Economy to serve his ego.
You work to serve your own personal agenda at the expenses of everyone else.
Like · Reply · 1m
Neil J. Young,HuffPost 5 hours ago
Sheen Zong San
Ricky Lim,
Are my words so powerful that they can break the rice bowls of the whole world? You are talking nonsense, making wild accusations, and smearing my name. You call me worse than a fool and have no knowledge of economics. In that case you have nothing to worry about. So why are you so enraged? Are you angry that this time the USA will win instead of lose? Who are you working for? I am a nobody - as you said, worse than a fool. Can a nobody offend China and drive a wedge between SE Asia and China? If this nobody can, then I suppose China is not that great after all. Trump wants to make America great again. I hope he succeeds. I am very happy and sure that many people in the world hope he succeeds. I am sharing my view and am certain that many people will agree with me, so what's that to you?
Are my words so powerful that they can break the rice bowls of the whole world? You are talking nonsense, making wild accusations, and smearing my name. You call me worse than a fool and have no knowledge of economics. In that case you have nothing to worry about. So why are you so enraged? Are you angry that this time the USA will win instead of lose? Who are you working for? I am a nobody - as you said, worse than a fool. Can a nobody offend China and drive a wedge between SE Asia and China? If this nobody can, then I suppose China is not that great after all. Trump wants to make America great again. I hope he succeeds. I am very happy and sure that many people in the world hope he succeeds. I am sharing my view and am certain that many people will agree with me, so what's that to you?
Ricky Lim ·
Sheen Zong San, Jessis Ng - Donald Trump will not succeed.
The whole World is against him.
Even many in US is against him.
You are in the delusion that the people in the World want him to succeed - which Countries?
EU? China? SE Asia? Africa? Latin America? Australia? New Zealand? Asia Pacific? Canada? Mexico?
Time will tell - and you will open your eyes and ears to see and hear.
The whole World is against him.
Even many in US is against him.
You are in the delusion that the people in the World want him to succeed - which Countries?
EU? China? SE Asia? Africa? Latin America? Australia? New Zealand? Asia Pacific? Canada? Mexico?
Time will tell - and you will open your eyes and ears to see and hear.
Like · Reply · 1m
Ricky Lim ·
This is only one of the many negative mainstream articles about Donald Trump and his presidency - calling him a "captain of Titanics" waiting to sink.
Ricky Lim ·
The World has multi-lateral trade deals to prosper.
Trump is running away from all his multi-lateral trade deals.
Trump is alienating all his trade partners - where trade need mutual goodwill.
Trump is destroying all the global goodwill.
Trump titanic will sink one day.
Trump is running away from all his multi-lateral trade deals.
Trump is alienating all his trade partners - where trade need mutual goodwill.
Trump is destroying all the global goodwill.
Trump titanic will sink one day.
Trump Wants His Cabinet To Serve His Ego, Not The Nation
Neil J. Young,HuffPost 5 hours ago
In commenting on his decision to remove Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from his position last week, President Donald Trumpexplained to reporters at the White House, “We were not really thinking the same. Really, it was a different mindset, a different thinking.”
That different way of thinking had been apparent from the start of Tillerson’s stint at State, visible not only in the secretary’s disagreement with Trump on how best to handle North Korea, but also in the pettier matters that have come to define this pitiful presidency. Tillerson, a former Eagle Scout, reportedly objected to Trump’s gross politicization of his visit to the Boy Scout Jamboree over the summer. And he found the president’s ability to command basic facts so unimpressive that he reportedly referred to Trump as a moron in front of other administration officials.
While the coming negotiations with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un provided a useful cover for Trump’s hasty actions, Tillerson’s exit really owed to his failure to fall in line with the president, something Trump assured reporters would not be a problem with his new appointee to State, Mike Pompeo. “We’re always on the same wavelength,” Trump said of Pompeo.
Perhaps anticipating more criticism of the continually revolving door that is the White House these days, Trump defended his move. “I’m really at a point where we’re getting very close to having the Cabinet and other things I want,” Trump explained, as if the West Wing’s constant turnover was some refining process of personnel rather than a crisis of presidential leadership.
On Thursday, Trump continued his staffing shuffle, naming John Bolton as his new national security adviser in place of H.R. McMaster. Trump’s selection of Bolton, the warmongering U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, is a chilling prospect for those who hoped Trump’s saber-rattling with North Korea might be tempered by cooler heads inside the White House. Bolton is an aggressive hawk who is certain to cheerlead Trump’s worst impulses.
All of these moves undercut Trump’s businessman boasts that he would bring only the “best people” to Washington, of course. But they also make plain that the real business of this administration is to serve Trump’s ego rather than the nation. In cutting out dissenters or even strong counterweights in his administration for the steady stream of sycophants and, let’s not forget, fawning family members he has gathered around him, Trump has ensured his White House will never be mistaken for Abraham Lincoln’s “team of rivals.” Instead, Trump is assembling a cabal of cronies.
In early American administrations, presidential Cabinets often included fractious elements who battled with each other and their president over what the young nation’s course should be. But Lincoln’s decision to appoint the three men he had defeated for the Republican nomination in 1860 – William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates – along with three former Democrats to his Cabinet established the adversarial model that subsequent presidents would follow.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have best continued the tradition. Faced with the challenges of leading the country through the Great Depression and up against a Republican Party that wanted him to fail, FDR might have chosen a Cabinet that affirmed his every step. Instead, Roosevelt selected a team of advisers notorious for arguing and rarely in agreement. Believing the best ideas would arise out of this maelstrom, FDR understood that he would have to first take on counterarguments inside his own ranks if he hoped to bring about the large-scale changes he desired for the country.
Other presidents followed suit. John F. Kennedy chose two Republicans to fill spots in his Cabinet, a move he hoped demonstrated a bipartisan spirit after a razor-thin win over Richard Nixon in 1960. Just as FDR had wanted his staff to challenge his ideas on how to deal with the nation’s economic crisis, JFK purposefully sought voices of disagreement as he determined how to handle the escalating tensions with the Soviet Union. The strategy paid off during the Cuban missile crisis.
More recently, George W. Bush assembled a Cabinet that included powerful, qualified officials, including Robert Gates and Colin Powell, to fill in the spots where his inexperience would show. (Trump has shown no similar thoughtfulness about how a carefully selected Cabinet could help cover up his glaring inadequacies as chief executive.)
Barack Obama frequently cited Lincoln’s “team of rivals” style of leadership as the reason for stocking his administration with his former competitors for the Democratic nomination, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, and picking three Republicans for his Cabinet. (One of those, Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, withdrew from consideration before he was confirmed as secretary of commerce, however.)
Trump is no student of history, certainly, and his leadership style veers more to the impulsive than the pragmatic. Still, it’s worth taking stock of the personality cult Trump has built for himself inside the White House, and what it means for the nation that he is using the presidency as his personal form of therapy.
Staff members provide Trump with folders twice a day filled with favorable news articles, flattering tweets, and even pictures of the president for him to pore over. This for a man who can’t be bothered to read national security briefings, we might remember.
Recall also the Cabinet meetings that have begun with Trump calling on each member to praise him and express appreciation for working for him. Other presidents usually prefer hearing updates about the work those secretaries’ departments are carrying out, but Trump has made clear to those around him that what he most wants to hear is how well they think he is doing. The nation can take care of itself.
That’s not to say there’s no pushback. But Tillerson’s experience shows what a self-defeating approach that voicing dissent can be in this White House. Jeff Sessions may be the next to learn the lesson. Although one of Trump’s first and most enthusiastic backers, Sessions now finds himself on the outs with the president and possibly next in the firing line due to his refusal to follow some of Trump’s ideas about how to use the Justice Department.
Whether Sessions stays or goes, Trump will continue to use the threat of expulsion to draw out unquestioning adherence and unwavering loyalty – his favorite word – from those around him. But most of that effort will be merely for show. Trump consults few of his advisers, in fact, and relies mostly on his own flawed and impetuous judgment. In the end, this emperor has no close associates.
Frighteningly, Trump’s tendencies for isolation and self-direction will only increase in whatever time he has left in office. As The New York Times reported this week, Trump, having grown confident in the role of president, now feels “newly emboldened” to ignore the advice of those around him and follow only his own instincts.
After more than a year in office, Trump may have finally found his sea legs. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s captaining the Titanic while his obsequious lackeys in the White House quietly rearrange the deck chairs.
Neil J. Young is a historian and author of We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics. He hosts the history podcast “Past Present.”
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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