One of Trump's promises is to get tough with China, and slap it with a 45% tariff. Of his first contact with China's President Xi Jinping, the Trump people said the following:
"During the call, the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another, and President-elect Trump stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward," a statement from Trump's presidential transition office said.
Hours later, the Chinese state-run Global Times came down hard on Trump, threatening a trade war starting with the ubiquitous iPhone if he even attempted to slap tariffs on any of its US exports.
“If Trump wrecks Sino-US trade, a number of US industries will be impaired. Finally the new president will be condemned for his recklessness, ignorance and incompetence,” the newspaper said in an editorial.
The Global Times claimed any new tariffs would trigger immediate “countermeasures” and “tit-for-tat approach” from Beijing.
“A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus. US auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the US.”
“Making things difficult for China politically will do him no good,” the newspaper warned.
Trump doesn't even know what hit him. He also doesn't know that in a trade war with China, we're the more vulnerable.
"Don't be naive", the newspaper stated. That's just it: we elected a man with no experience, no knowledge of how trade works, little understanding of government, and even less understanding of global politics. Worse, we elected a man who listens to no one, relishes ignorance, and seems to think he can bluff his way through every situation.
Being naive is one of his better traits.
