Posted on 05/03/2018 5:07:26 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Donald Trump has dispatched a high-level delegation to Beijing for trade talks with China this week, which should be a reassuring sign amid rising tariff threats. Both countries will benefit if a modus vivendi can be found that opens markets and sets new rules of the road. But the Trump Administration hasn’t decided what it wants out of a deal, and that increases the risks of a larger breakdown between the world’s largest economies.
Recall that the U.S. first amped up the tension with threats to impose sanctions in retaliation for China’s theft of intellectual property. Beijing’s trade point man, newly appointed Vice Premier Liu He, came to Washington in early March with some exploratory proposals on how to defuse the conflict. U.S. officials gave Mr. Liu the cold shoulder and sent him away without specific demands. Naturally the Chinese will be reluctant to make more concessions without a clearer idea of the American bottom line.
Trump appointees may not want to stick their necks out because of an embarrassing episode last summer. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross negotiated a deal with China to reduce steel production, only to have the President reject it as insufficient.
This week’s delegation to Beijing is comprised of three cabinet secretaries, three White House advisers and an ambassador, all of them coming at the trade issue with different priorities. To make matters worse, little legwork was done in advance.
The root problem is Mr. Trump’s insistence that “the Massive Trade Deficit” of $375 billion a year with China must be reduced by $100 billion. Targeting a bilateral deficit doesn’t create jobs in the U.S. or benefit American companies, and it allows China to posture as a defender of free trade.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Ahhhh yes useless analysis from the open borders,globalist, Never Trump express.
Malarkey (remember that word)! Trump knows exactly what he wants but sometimes signalling your exact desires is not the best tactic in negotiation and this guy is the best negotiator in the world today. And that is "negotiator" actually negotiating to advance the interests of the nation he represents rather than negotiating to keep negotiating. For Trump Negotiation is not the end in itself and it is not endlessly sitting around tables determined to at most reach some "compromise."
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