Fucking Moron (tm)
Jun. 20th, 2018 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timeletshttps://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/xi-jinping-can-make-life-tough-for-us-companies-in-china-following-trump-threat
The total amount of US goods exports to China only amounted to US$130 billion (S$176 billion) last year, meaning Mr Trump's potential tariffs on US$250 billion or more of Chinese imports cannot be matched, at least directly.
But if one measures both exports and sales of US companies inside China, the US has a surplus of US$20 billion with China, according to Deutsche Bank.
With Gary Cohn out of the picture, the administration doesn't have any growth strategy. Optimists believe that tariffs is a negotiation ploy but the damage to global supply chains can be much greater than the benefits of potential "deals".
Just to think of it: if the most pessimistic estimate of a full blown trade war (40% increase in tariffs) reduces economic growth by 2%, the most optimistic estimate of potential deals (10% reduction in tariffs) can't be more than a quarter of that. Is the upside worth the risk? The answer would be yes, if one gambles with somebody else's money.
