Posted on 07/18/2018 8:38:24 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser blamed China’s President Xi Jinping for stalling talks that could end the US-China trade war, and referred to local Chinese government officials as “mafioso dons”, in an interview on Wednesday.
Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, made his remarks weeks after the last round of high-level talks between Trump administration officials and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He that were aimed at averting punitive tariffs that went into effect on July 6.
“I do not think President Xi, at the moment, has any intention of following through on the discussions we made … I think Xi is holding the game up,” Kudlow said at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Wednesday.
During negotiations in May and June, China offered to import more US soybeans and other products to draw down its trade surplus, but Trump has insisted on better access to Chinese markets for US companies and an end to what the White House calls forced technology transfers.
“You open a company on a joint venture basis in a Chinese province, OK, and because you only own 49 per cent, they own 51 per cent or more, the local party leaders – you know, these are like mafioso dons, I'm told,” Kudlow said.
“You have to go and lay your entire blueprint on the table, including the technology, and they will have their experts open it right up.”
Kudlow also said that China had not “responded at all, not one basis point, to our request to do something about the theft of intellectual property and the forced divestiture of our technology.”
In addition to better market access for US companies and fewer technology transfer requirements, Trump has said that he wants to reverse the United States’ trade deficit
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
I think he is the outnumbered free trader, tired of taking the same tired argument his type has been advocating, forever.
America is now running the single largest trade deficit, in recorded history, between any two countries.
Any two.
Ever.
And it is getting even worse this year. Every single month, this year.
Worse, even than last year.
China either starts buying a BUNCH more from America, or Trump will simply shut them down from selling stuff here.
This is why Trump won.
Because BOTH PARTIES have been selling out to China, forever.
Kudlow works for Trump. It's like a vegan in a cage with nothing to eat but meat.
We’ve never had free trade, and we never will. Free Trade is economic “utopia”, it doesn’t exist.
[I think he is the outnumbered free trader, tired of taking the same tired argument his type has been advocating, forever.]
Stormy Daniels isn’t Free Trade?
It's not about tariffs. It's about US technology.
The tariffs are being invoked to protect that.
“Like mafioso dons”...
Well duh, that is what Communism is.
Trump would never shut down goods from China. That would never work. Dollar Tree stores would be completely empty and the supply chain for so many goods would be interrupted. He can raise tariffs, but he’s not a dictator. He can’t issue a decree banning Chinese goods.
After the 1992 election, James Baker made a speech where he told the supply siders “you were right and we were wrong” about tax cuts, vs agreeing to tax increases to “balance the budget”.
Kudlow has often referenced this speech, and its importance in getting all the Republicans together on taxes.
I think at some point, the free trade side like Kudlow, who supported NAFTA, GATT, WTO etc. etc... needs to make a similar speech where they acknowledge that Buchanan, Perot etc. were right about NAFTA and other “free trade” deals.
These things did not help the US economy overall. They enriched a small minority and devastated the blue collar middle class.
I dunno.
He can sure change things for the better, by bringing back a LOT of American production again.
I strongly believe this is the reason he won.
There are a huge number of Americans who have sold out, but Trump won on this issue.
A LOT of Americans want to re-industialize our nation once again.
A whole lot.
I agree.
Trump won on this issue.
America first, for a change.
“Because BOTH PARTIES have been selling out to China, forever.”
Yes, they have. I would like a mathematician/statistician to work out the boundaries of trade surplus/deficit that would be expected to occur randomly during ‘free trade’. Clearly, our trade deficits are outside of any range that could be reasonably explained on the basis of ‘market forces’.
Free traders in a Mercantilist world are suckers.
And most private Chinese companies are out of cash. Full stop. They also don’t have a group of banks they can turn to for lines of credit. They have a sort of ‘shadow banking’ group where these private companies can go.
The Chinese government is ALSO out of cash. Their economy is completely ‘bicycle’ - momentum stops, and they fall over.
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