2016-12-23

Trump-China Negotiations Continue

FT: Beijing fires trade warning after Trump appoints China hawk
“Chinese officials had hoped that, as a businessman, Trump would be open to negotiating deals,” said Zhu Ning, a finance professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “But they have been surprised by his decision to appoint such a hawk to a key post.”
China does not yet realize negotiations started when Trump took a call from Taiwan's president, and they haven't stopped.

CNN: Trump team floats a 10% tariff on imports
A senior Trump transition official said Thursday the team is mulling up to a 10% tariff aimed at spurring US manufacturing, which could be implemented via executive action or as part of a sweeping tax reform package they would push through Congress.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus floated a 5% tariff on imports in meetings with key Washington players last week, according to two sources who represent business interests in Washington. But the senior transition official who spoke to CNN Thursday on the condition of anonymity said the higher figure is now in play.

Such a move would deliver on Trump's "America First" campaign theme, but risks drawing the US into a trade war with other countries and driving up the cost of consumer goods in the US. And it's causing alarm among business interests and the pro-trade Republican establishment.
There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth by free traders, but U.S. policy is pro-import and anti-export compared to most of the world. Adding a 10 percent tariff is not the best way forward for global trade, but other nations could abolish export subsidies and VAT rebates, and encourage more domestic consumption. Given current social mood, however, it's more likely nations will oppose the U.S. action and the result will be grudging acceptance of U.S. policies. The alternative could be the end of the WTO because protectionism is one rise all over the world.

AFP: China tycoon moves jobs to US, citing high taxes at home
The 70-year-old tycoon's decision to open a glass factory in the eastern American state of Ohio in October -- a rare case of jobs being exported from China to the US -- triggered an outpouring of criticism on social media.

The phrase "Cao Dewang has escaped" became a hot topic, generating nearly 10 million views on the Twitter-like Weibo microblog and many comments urging China to "not let Cao Dewang run away".

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