Trump Promises Escalating Trade War with China ‘A Little Squabble,’ Will Result in ‘Great Deal’ for the U.S.
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – President Trump promised a deal with China will come “when the time is right” Tuesday, calling the current atmosphere of mistrust between the two countries, which has produced an increase in tariffs on both nations’ goods, “a little squabble.”
Recently, Trump increased taxes on 200 billion dollars’ worth of Chinese products, dangling the threat of taxing another 300 billion dollars’ worth of Chinese exports over the head of a recalcitrant Beijing, which has so far responded by levying a 5% to 25% tax on 5,140 US products exported to China beginning June 1st.
“We have to be allowed to make up some of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on trade since the ridiculous one-sided formation of the WTO,” Trump said in a tweet Tuesday, seeking to allay fears that have arisen from things getting worse before they get better.
Upon joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China was asked to “provide non-discriminatory treatment to all WTO Members” and ensure that foreign companies operating on Chinese soil are “accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to enterprises in China.”
Critics say the communist juggernaut, which now boasts the second-largest economy in the world after the United States, has broken both promises by not opening up its banking or telecommunications sectors to foreign competition, which it vowed to do in 2006, while Chinese companies continue to reap the benefits of free trade and open markets in western democracies.