Trump Regime’s Trade War With China Heats Up
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Washington demands all other countries bow to its will. That’s how imperialism works, diabolically pursuing what’s harmful to most people worldwide.
Endless wars of aggression, financial wars, currency wars, sanctions wars, bloody coups, color revolutions, political assassinations, and other hostile tactics show how far the US will go to achieve its aims – on trade and virtually everything else.
Three rounds of Trump regime trade talks with China failed to resolve key outstanding differences.
Beijing vowed to retaliate in kind to US tariffs and other trade impediments if imposed – making it clear if Trump wants a trade war, he’ll get one.
On July 6, it began with 25% US tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products becoming effective, $16 billion more to follow.
The Trump regime threatened similar duties on another $400 billion worth of Chinese goods if Beijing retaliates in kind.
China’s Commerce Ministry responded straightaway, saying Beijing “will not fire its first shot, but is inevitably forced to strike back to defend the core interest of the nation and its people. We will report to the World Trade Organization on a timely basis.”
Trade wars assure losers, not winners. China is a major world power, not about to roll over for Washington, a reality Trump apparently doesn’t understand or won’t accept. In time, he will – the hard way if he remains rigid.
He’s mainly targeting Beijing’s Made in China 2025 strategy – a 10-year plan to transform the country into a global industrial and high-tech manufacturing superpower.
Follow-up plans aim to further enhance China technologically and industrially by 2049, the People’s Republic of China’s 100th anniversary.
US economic and financial confrontation with Beijing has nothing to do with America’s trade deficit, caused by letting the nation’s corporate predators offshore its industrial base to low-wage countries.
Paul Craig Roberts explained it in his book, titled “The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism,” saying “half of US imports from China consist of the offshored production of US corporations.”
Millions of US production and other jobs were lost, China unfairly blamed for the actions of corporate America, Washington OKing what happened.
Roberts put it this way, saying millions of Americans “lost their middle class jobs not because China played unfairly, but because American corporations betrayed the American people and exported their jobs.”
“ ’Making America great again’ means dealing with these corporations, not with China” – laying blame where it belongs.
Representing Beijing’s view, China’s Global Times (GT) slammed the Trump regime, saying it’s “determined to rewrite world trade rules,” benefitting US interests exclusively.
China is the world’s second largest economy, heading toward surpassing America in the years ahead, including by becoming a manufacturing and high-tech superpower – what Washington wants to prevent.
What’s inevitable won’t be prevented. President Xi Jinping doesn’t want a trade war. “But if (Trump) wants to contain China’s high-tech development and marginalize its promising high-tech industry, it will be quite another case,” GT explained, adding:
“It is China’s right to develop its high-tech industries, including aerospace, telecommunications and artificial intelligence.”
“It does not make sense that China cannot set foot in these fields just because the US is in the lead or believes that if Beijing ever achieves any results, they would all be ‘stolen’ from Washington. This is a severe distortion of the spirit of intellectual property.”
“If the US is determined to escalate conflicts with China, then so be it. Perhaps the Trump administration can only clear its mind after a fight.”
So far, US duties on Chinese products target engines, motors, construction and farming machinery, electric transportation, telecom equipment and certain precision instruments.
Beijing’s countermeasures target US soybeans and other agricultural commodities, vehicles and aquatic products.
The Trump regime’s trade dispute with China and other countries is all about pursuing its hegemonic goals – seeking unchallenged US economic, financial, technological, political and military dominance over all other nations.
When pursued the hegemonic way Washington operates, it’s the stuff global wars are made of.
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