Quasi Trade War
BY EDMUND GRECO
Journalist Graeme Wearden summarizes current events concerning foreign trade relations between the United States and China in “US and China put trade war 'on hold.’” The article explains recent developments in the quasi “trade war” between the two countries, which the White House recently announced will be ending, thanks to talks with China.
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About a month ago, President Donald Trump announced steel and other tariffs placed on Chinese steel and other Chinese goods to help curve the trade deficit the US currently owns to China, which according to Wearden, currently reaches over $300 billion. In response, China placed more tariffs on America as well. Each set of tariffs were highly controversial as some claimed they would help the US economy and others claimed they would only hurt the economy.
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In recent days, trade talks with China have lead to a decrease in tensions as the two countries seem to have come to a deal.
According to editors at Bloomberg, while it looks likes the US did not get a reduction in the deficit from Beijing, Chinese leaders apparently pledged to buy more American goods, specifically agricultural imports from the US.
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In return, the US will lift the tariffs, which were putting a strain on China’s economy, the world's biggest steel exporter. There is still more to be revealed on the deal which was apparently made.
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Trump’s “hard-knocks” foreign policy seems to have achieved another victory concerning the China trade deal. In the article, Wearden claims the US has seemed to “back down” from the international tensions by easing the tariffs on China. However, it seems more that the tariffs placed on China forced them to the negotiation table, leading to a better deal for the US.
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The article, “Trump Blinks on China Tariffs. That's a Start,” notes that a better deal economically for the US was President Trump’s main purpose of placing the tariffs in the first place. This type of aggressive foreign policy has manifested in many ways in the Trump administration.
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The tariffs placed on China hindered its exporting power as one of its main markets, the US market, saw the prices of Chinese produced goods skyrocket. This forced manufacturers and consumers alike to purchase American made. Seeing the possible long term-effect on their economy, Chinese leaders most likely were more lenient to US trade demands.
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According to J.R. Sullivan of the New Yorker, China’s pledge to buy American agricultural products taunts a much needed win for America’s struggling farmers. Sullivan continues to explain that the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that, between 2013 and 2016, net farm income fell by half, the largest three-year drop since the Great Depression. America’s farmers looked towards Trump to aid their situation in the 2016 election, and with this new deal, Trump may have just delivered.
Works Cited
Sullivan , J. R. “America’s Farmers Are in Crisis, and They’Re Looking to Trump for Relief.”Www.newyorker.com , 23 Jan. 2018, www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/americas-farmers-are-in-crisis-and-theyre-looking-to-trump-for-relief.
“Trump Blinks on China Tariffs. That's a Start.” Www.bloomberg.com , 23AD, www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-21/china-faces-end-of-fast-growth-that-made-it-biggest-economy.
Wearden, Graeme. “US and China Put Trade War 'on Hold'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/20/us-and-china-put-trade-war-on-hold.