Monday, 5 March 2018

TRUMP - MAN OF STEEL




Steel amounts to only 2% of US imports.

Trump is bringing in import tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.

"Labor unions and liberal Democrats are applauding Trump's approach.

"Republicans and an array of business groups are warning of dire economic and political consequences if Trump goes ahead with the tariffs."
Trump Towers Made Of Chinese steel .

China really does not sell all that much steel to the US.

Chinese exports to the US amount to a mere 0.2 per cent of Chinese production.

The top source of American steel imports is Canada, followed by the EU.



Import tariffs on steel means that, in the USA, the cost of new appliances, cars and buildings will rise.

The introduction of steel tariffs could erode Trump's base of support with rural America and blue-collar workers.

'There is always retaliation, and typically a lot of these countries single out agriculture when they do that. So, we're very concerned,' said Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican.

dailymail.



Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, has asked the administration to reconsider its stance.

He said American companies, that use steel, could move their operations abroad and not face retaliatory tariffs.

'This scenario would lead to the exact opposite outcome of the administration's stated objective, which is to protect American jobs,' Walker said.

Tim Phillips noted that Trump narrowly won in Iowa and Wisconsin, two heavily rural states that could suffer if countries impose retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural goods.

'It hurts the administration politically because trade wars, protectionism, they lead to higher prices for individual Americans,' Phillips said. 'It's basically a tax increase.'


In 2002, George W Bush introduced steel tariffs.

There was then a 30% plunge in the S&P 500 stock market index, and a slump in the dollar.

Bush was forced to withdraw the tariffs.



"The two scariest words in economics are not (yet) Donald Trump.

"They are Smoot-Hawley.

"I'm referring to the imposition by President Herbert Hoover of destructive tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods in 1930, an act of madness that helped turn what should have been a short US recession into a worldwide, epoch-defining depression.

"Trade fell by more than half as other countries retaliated with their own tariffs on American goods. Millions of jobs were annihilated.

"The tariffs, named after Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C Hawley, were the single greatest economic blunder of all time and accelerated the march towards the Second World War."

If Trump means what he says on trade, we all face economic doom




At the beginning of March 2018, there are fears that global markets will slump.


Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

CLINTON AND TRUMP ON CHINA

...

"Clinton takes every opportunity to talk tough on China."

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and China

However, Hillary Clinton knows that taking tough action against China will not be easy.

"China's currency is probably overvalued against the US dollar.

"China once used an undervalued yuan to spur exports of Chinese manufactured goods. No longer. China's export numbers have been stagnant for the past five years.

"The only way to prevent US companies from transferring technology to China would be to prohibit American companies from investing in China - a step no US leader is likely to take."


...

Trump has been buying steel from China.

In recent construction projects, Trump bought his steel and aluminum from Chinese manufacturers rather than United States corporations based in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.


For example, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas used steel from China.

Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago used steel from China.

Chinese companies make suits and ties for the Donald Trump Signature Collection.

Donald Trump Ditched US Steel Workers in Favor of China - Newsweek /
Trump Killed 'Rust Belt' Manufacturing Jobs in Secret Chinese Deals



Inside the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC: bedding made in China, not the USA..

The Trump Hotel in Washington has Italian bed linens, French table linens, Chinese duvets, Korean TVs and Mexican tequila.


Inside the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC: a Trump Hotel bathrobe, made in China.




These Trump Hotel branded umbrellas are made in China, not in the U.S.



The Trump Hotel is filled with items that were not made in America. Here, a lamp made in China.



The king-sized beds inside the suites at the new DC Trump Hotel were not made in the USA.

More here: Busted!

China

"China's position as America's largest banker gives it some political leverage."

If China sold some of its US treasury bonds, U.S. interest rates would rise, which would slow U.S economic growth.

The U.S. Owes China

...

Trump can be trusted?

Labels: , , , , , , , ,