Day 1,047: Seeing self-inflicted devastation left by trade wars, of course Trump wants more
Farmers have had to be bailed out to the tune of $28 billion thanks to Donald Trump’s trade wars, most notably with China. That money is coming from taxpayer coffers, not reciprocal tariffs or whatever pretend economics Trump is hawking.
Now, seeing prices rise for goods and services across the country and doing real damage to American wallets — an average of $460 per family over the year — Trump, for some reason, wants more trade wars.
Following Trump’s announcement, national and global markets fell, amid worries of even more trade wars.
The reason for Trump’s newest tariffs are due to a predictably broken campaign promise to cause a manufacturing renaissance. Moreover, the frequent trade wars are causing future orders to plummet as companies can’t predict costs.
And his longstanding pledge to revive American manufacturing through a muscular trade policy took another hit Monday with new data showing that the sector continued to slow for a fourth straight month.
US manufacturing “is stuck in a mild recession with little prospect of a real near-term revival,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note Monday.
While job growth and consumer spending remain strong, keeping the US economy moving, trade uncertainty has been a drag on business growth. It’s challenging for those business owners engaged in trade to make investments and pricing decisions when they don’t know how long tariffs will last. Plus, the tariffs make some manufacturing inputs more expensive. New orders are the lowest they’ve been since April 2009, noted Shepherdson.
Trump has struggled to consummate international agreements. The “deals” that do come together tend to just be re-adoptions of previous policies negotiated under Barack Obama.
Trump recently came to a new trade agreement with Japan, opening up market access for American ranchers and farmers. But some said the deal didn’t offer anything more than what was included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump withdrew from early in his administration.
It’s unclear when a deal might be reached with China. Negotiations with Beijing have been ongoing for well over a year. In October, Trump suggested they were close to reaching a “phase one” agreement that could ease trade tensions, but would fall short of a comprehensive deal.
But presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway said Monday that it’s “up to China” whether an agreement is reached before the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, Trump is eyeing additional trade wars in Europe.
Trump has former or active trade wars in most corners of the globe. The uncertainty around them has depressed what could be additional economic growth for the U.S. and other nations. He has never understood trade wars, and that’s apparent, yet again, now.
1,047 days in, 415 to go
Follow us on Twitter at @TrumpTimer
