Displaying items by tag: China

(Washington)

There has been a lot of talk lately about a coming US and global trade war. A lot of the focus has been on China, but also NAFTA. Well Bloomberg says the idea of a looming trade war is wrong, because it is already here. Over the last few months the US has already added some stiff barriers to trading with Canada. The moves show that the US is not afraid to throw up tariffs even in trading relationships that are pretty balanced.

FINSUM: Trump and the US government are now taking a very firm line on trade by increasing tariffs and launching investigations into potential violations. We like the idea of the making US trade more fair after years of undermining ourselves, but do have some concerns it could backfire in the long run.

(Washington)

One of the big worries that many analysts have about what could end this relentless bull market is the prospect of a global trade war. Nations may turn to constantly trying to undercut one another in a fruitless race to outcompete that could damage all economies involved. Well, the odds of that occurring are looking stronger today as President Trump has just issued a stark warning to China—the US’ largest and most contentious trading partner. The message was the president’s approval of broad tariffs on Chinese solar panels and washing machines. Beijing reacted angrily to the new tariffs, saying it had “strong dissatisfaction”.

FINSUM: We don’t know where to stand on this issue. On the one hand we firmly believe that countries need to and should protect themselves from unfair competition. However, in a larger scope, such efforts can seem more like winning a battle and losing a war.