The China Syndrome

Sometimes tomorrow, the Trump Administration will report that China has lowered their tarriffs on imports. It will be hailed by some as a victory, even though all China has done is return its tariffs to the level the products were imported at before Trump’s crazy trade war began.

To illustrate the ridiculousness of the trade war and the futility of it, the free market magazine The Economist reported last week that China’s share of global imports is now at 11.9 percent, an amount higher than what it was in July 2018 when the dumb trade war began. In addition, China’s trade surplus is now even higher than it was when Trump took office.

China has boosted its exports to Asian nations and to the E.U., making up for the lost exports to the U.S. (down 15 percent). China’s economy is slowing but, as it is want to do, the micromanaged nation has already shifted gears to adjust to the new paradigm. Even under bad times, its economy is still technically simmering along compared to most of the other world players:

On social media last night, a few faithful Trump followers proclaimed victory even though it looks as if the two economic powers just threw bricks at one another for 18 months, busted out windows in their houses, but wound up just deciding to stop throwing so many bricks. China found new markets, U.S. companies did the same, and China continues to forge influence in Asia, Europe and Africa. In the meantime, the U.S. will likely focus on forging some alliance with the U.K. now that Brexit is a guarantee.

Here is a good summary of what all of this negative and positive information means from Asia Times last month:

I have no idea what any of it means but it reads as if China is going to keep pushing ahead. Maybe I should visit China at some point and see for myself what happens there. My good friend the poet, Brother Yao says it is a pretty interesting place. Now, how about some music: