The Wall Street Journal editorial board questioned whether President Trump has a clear trade agenda as the tariff war with China heats up.
“The reality is that Trump is making up for it as he goes, and it would be useful if he had a real strategy to deal with China, especially.” I wrote it in an editorial Released Thursday.
The Journal argued that it was not clear what the president “wants from China” and what his strategy would achieve that.
“If Trump is serious, the best strategy is to bring allies together to combat China's mercantilism,” the board wrote. “But he hasn't even been interested in that. He has wasteful his best chance of isolating China by trade in his first term by leaving his quarantine partnership, including Beijing.”
“Then China has since cut down its own deals with many countries the US has left behind in the cold,” a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch added to the editorial.
This week, economic tensions between the US and China reached a fever pitch this week as it escalated tariffs on imports between the two largest economies of the world. Despite issuing a 90-day suspension on “mutual” obligations to most foreign trade partners, Trump specifically excluded Beijing from the contract.
China has kindly responded to the Trump administration's move to raise tariffs, adding 125% to its 20% tax. However, Chinese officials said Friday that even if the US raises interest rates, the country will limit US tariffs to 125%.
The trade war with China has sparked widespread concerns about the impact of the fight on consumer goods and the cost of living for American families. The president's announcement of new tariffs last week also raised the red flag.
“The biggest problem with the global trading system is the abuse of free trade rules by the Chinese authoritarian regime,” the Journal warned. “Trump's ad hoc, scatter plot customs policy doesn't solve that issue.”
“So far, he's hurting his own cause and his country more than he's hurting the Chinese Communist Party,” they added.
