White House Announces Tech Tariffs, Investment Restrictions on China (axios.com)

The White House announced this morning a plan to levy a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese tech goods -- with the exact list to be announced next month -- as well as tech investment limits for Chinese nationals and entities. From a report: It also plans to pursue litigation at the World Trade Organization relating to Chinese intellectual property abuses. The big picture: It's a show of force that has surprised some sources close to the White House who believed Trump would defer any aggression towards China until after the North Korea summit. A source close to the White House who has a keen understanding of the internal dynamics on China told me that this is an "initial move in a long negotiation that shows the Chinese Trump is very serious -- and a move to balance the criticism that he was soft on ZTE."

Comments

"a move to balance the criticism that he was soft"

[denisbergeron]

And "with the exact list to be announced next month "

China don't have to worry, next month they will list what and when is going to be effectif hten, China will buy another hotel to Trump and every sanction willbe drop !

Re:Trump

[llamalad]

It's a hoarding/bunker mentality versus a focus on quality of life.

On one side, there's the folks who want to keep economic and physical resources on hand and maintain and develop manufacturing capability to ensure self sufficiency.

On the other, you've got the folks who want to enjoy as many of the available ancient vises and modern conveniences as possible.

Both sides have good arguments supporting them. On one side, what happens if international trade goes to hell? And on the other, why live like a Great Depression survivor when that crisis may never come?

As with most things, the most successful strategy is probably a middle ground between the two extremes.

Re:Trump

[BlueStrat]

Look, protectionism isn't a "new" idea. It has been tried over and over throughout history. In fact, it has been more the norm than the exception. It hurts the economies of both importers and exporters, and leads to job losses and lower living standards.

Tell that to the Chinese as they've been using protectionist policies against the US for decades and engaging in tactics like flooding Western markets with super-cheap goods by "dumping" products at artificially-low prices subsidized by the Chinese government at a loss with the sole purpose of destroying US industrial and commercial sectors.

The Chinese have in effect been waging a trade and economic war against the US for decades. This response is long overdue and relatively mild in comparison.

Strat