Donald Trump's stupid trade war is loosing

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2019/08/30/texas-is-losing-in-trump-s-trade-war-with-china/?utm_source=pushy

Dallas is calling!  Texas speaks!

Hello White House! Wake up call to the Trump campaign!

Honestly, it doesn't take a rocket scientist (sorry for the cliche) to realize that Donald Trump has never moved beyond his apprentice campaign mode in 2015-16, and into leadership.  His promise to have Mexico pay for a ghost wall that the Mexicans will absolutely not fund and his stupidity about how to leverage trade deals are examples of the delusional Donald Trump political poke bag. Here is a very harsh editorial from Texas!  

DALLAS, Texas editorial- Of all the reckless and ill-advised statements Donald Trump has made during his presidency, perhaps the one he’ll regret most is his March 2018 tweet saying “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” 

Most economists on the left and right would agree that they are neither, and, moreover, the casualties are generally the farmers, manufacturers and consumers that fuel a healthy economy.

The reality on the ground bears this out. In his increasingly damaging trade dispute with China, Trump has now slapped tariffs on $550 billion worth of Chinese imports while Beijing has retaliated with tariffs on $185 billion in U.S. imports. China's list of U.S. products now subject to increased levies includes electronics, cars and auto parts, aircraft and parts, machinery, crude oil, aluminum and steel products, and nearly everything grown or raised on a U.S. farm or ranch.

Last Friday, after China announced plans to hike tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods beginning on Sept. 1, Trump responded with a pledge to raise existing U.S. tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese products from 25% to 30% on Oct. 1, while an additional $300 billion in Chinese goods will be taxed at 15%, up from 10%, on Sept. 1. Tit-for-tat protectionist folly at its worst.

Then, in what seemed to be a gross misinterpretation of the powers of the presidency, Trump tweeted that U.S. companies “are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China.” Not surprisingly, the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all plunged more than 2% on fears that Trump’s “easy to win” trade war might end the bull market and tip the U.S. into recession.

The markets have regained their composure since Friday. But Wall Street isn't Main Street, and that's where the trade war is taking no prisoners. As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made painfully clear, "American businesses and consumers are bearing the brunt of the global trade war. By now, it's plain to see that tariffs are inflicting harm on the American economy and will continue to do so unless the administration changes course."

In Texas alone, where more than 3 million jobs are supported by global trade, $10 billion in state exports are targeted for retaliation from China. Among the hardest hit are liquified propane, with $1.7 billion worth exported annually to China; grain sorghum, with $494 million exported annually to China; and cotton, with $477 million exported annually to China. And those numbers don't reflect last week's salvo of retaliatory Chinese tariffs.

Small, family-owned business are among the hardest hit, especially those that export to or import goods from China. But the toll is beginning to be felt by giants like Apple and Caterpillar, who've seen their stock values tumble as stiff tariffs on technology and machinery are becoming a reality.

But in Texas, a state with more farms and ranches than any other, no one is getting hit as hard as those in the ag industry. In our state and across the country, producers of cotton, soybeans, corn, feed grains and other crops are struggling financially with farm loan bankruptcies and delinquenciesspiking recently due in part to poor weather but also the intensifying trade war.

China's announcement earlier this month that its state-owned enterprises will cease buying any agricultural products from the U.S. was described by American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall as a "body blow to thousands of farmers and ranchers who are already struggling to get by."

According to Duvall, “Exports to China were down by $1.3 billion during the first half of the year.” Now, he says American farmers “stand to lose all of what was a $9.1 billion market in 2018, which was down sharply from the $19.5 billion U.S. farmers exported to China in 2017.”

Duvall said that those in the agricultural industry are “grateful for the Market Facilitation Program payments many farmers and ranchers have received, allowing them to continue farming during this difficult time. Even so, we know that aid cannot last forever. We urge negotiators to redouble their efforts to arrive at an agreement, and quickly. Exports ensure farmers will continue to supply safe, healthful and affordable food for families here and around the world.”

In other words, trade not aid is what farmers — and the rest of American businesses, whether large or small — need to not just survive but thrive in the global marketplace. Yes, China has been a bad actor and violated World Trade Organization rules and the norms of international trade, especially in regard to intellectual property rights and forced technology transfers.

But Trump's scorched-earth negotiating style could be pushing China further away from international norms when the goal is just the opposite. It's times like this that we wish the U.S. had not pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trading bloc that, with U.S. leadership, would have had more carrots and sticks in its arsenal than Trump going it alone.

Perhaps the best we can hope for under this administration is for the president to tire of his trade war with China, claim victory as he did with the rewritten United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and move on. For the sake of the Texas (and U.S.) economy, we hope Congress ratifies the North American free trade agreement as soon as possible. For one thing is certain about Trump’s trade wars: There is nothing “good” or “easy” about them.