China and U.S. negotiators talk every day. That’s all part of Trump’s plan to beat the Chinese at their own game. Mr. Trump thinks his 1.9 percent GDP growth rate will stay stronger longer than China’s 6.0 percent growth rate.
The trade war is a no-win situation for both sides. But Trump claims he collects billions of dollars from the Chinese. Americans, not China pay the tariffs either at the wholesale or at the retail level.
Mr. Trump hit the nail on the head when he said the treasury collects billions from his trade war. U.S. taxpayers paid $35 billion in tariffs since Trump started his tariff frenzy. The tariffs wiped out the middle income tax cut Trump lied about in 2017.
Trump said his tax cut would boost the economy, and it did for a year or so. But when the fat cats decided to keep the money Trump gave them from the tax cut instead of putting it to use by paying employees a bonus or investing in business expansion, the benefits of the tax cut sank to the bottom of the swamp.
Consumer spending is the major force behind U.S. economic growth. Thanks to the greedy fat cats, business development is in the toilet, and government spending is on steroids. Plus, Americans are $14 trillion in debt. That amount of debt makes Jay Powell and the Feds nervous. Powell won’t cut interest rates again because he knows consumer debt could eradicate consumer spending. Student loan debt hurts Millennial spending, and mortgage, credit card, and other debts could be another catalyst for the 2008-type meltdown economists keep talking about.
Jerome Powell doesn’t think the economy will fly off the tracks and land in the world of recession. The Germans thought their booming economy had invincibility written all over it too, but Angela Merkel just told the press Germany just stepped into recessionary mud.
Mr. Powell told Mr. Trump he can’t continue to tariff-screwed China, Canada, the U.K., and Europe and expect his economy to expand. Powell wants Trump to drop the tariffs, but Trump told the Chinese he won’t drop the tariffs even if they sign the phase one deal.
The Trumpster has a lot of political, economic, financial, and social balls in the air. Some news reports claim the president might have had a few chest pains after he heard Pence’s aide Jennifer Williams say she heard him try to screw Zelensky. But after an unscheduled hospital visit with 11 doctors, Trump’s doctor claims the president is solid as a rock. The White House doc said the Trumpster’s cholesterol is high, but his tweeting fingers are in good shape.
Dil Bole Oberoi
