Will Trump ever stop winning? The Dems are being slowly roasted by their own impeachment process, Iran is suddenly short its top-level terrorist, and the American economy is booming. It’s just got another, enormous shot in the arm, as the Chinese robber-barons are finally being called to account.
Donald Trump has signed what he described as a “momentous’’ Phase One trade agreement with China, delivering a temporary truce in the trade war between the world’s economic superpowers.
The deal will allow the president to claim a partial but important political victory in his tariff showdown with China which he will showcase as part of his re-election campaign this year.
Cameron Stewart is an inveterate anti-Trumper, so “partial but important political victory” is a yuge concession that Trump has won bigly yet again.
The 86-page deal requires China to buy $US200 billion more US goods over the next two years and take some structural steps to remove unfair trade practices.
These include a pledge by China to give US companies greater access to its financial services, to give greater protection to US intellectual property and to refrain from manipulating the Chinese yuan to assist its exporters.
This is the big win, here. China has been robbing the rest of the world blind, with impugnity, for years. China steals between $200 and $600 billion worth of intellectual property from the United States – each year. 1 in 5 US corporations say that the Chinese have looted their IP. While this Phase One deal doesn’t completely pull China into line, it’s an enormous beginning.
The deal will open the way for negotiations to begin on the so-called Phase Two trade deal which will more vigorously tackle China’s unfair trade practices. This will be a much harder deal to reach and it is unlikely to be completed before the November presidential election.
The large amount of on-going tariffs gives the US the ability to maintain pressure on Beijing during the Phase Two negotiations.
It’s also a big political kick, going into an election year.
Importantly for Mr Trump, the Chinese pledge for the Phase One deal includes new purchases of $US32bn of US agricultural goods, easing the acute pain which the trade war has placed on American farmers.
The president has tried to ease the suffering of farmers, many of who are in crucial swing-states which Mr Trump much win in the election, by handing out around $US28 billion in farm subsidies. He has often praised the loyalty of farmers for their continued support despite the economic pain they have suffered, but senior aides had feared the trade war may eventually test the loyalty of this traditionally pro-Republican constituency.
theaustralian.com.au/world/donald-trump-signs-momentous-trade-agreement-with-china
Meanwhile, all the Democrats can offer are a cheap attempt to overturn the 2016 election, and a hopeless gaggle of swamp monsters, geriatric communists and phoney Indians.
If you enjoyed this BFD article please consider sharing it with your friends.