US has approached China seeking talks on Trump tariffs

So Chinese President Xi was correct that the Trump would blink first?

Of course, China says that the Trump tariffs must be rolled back before talks begin.

I wonder if Xi is waiting until the US domestic situation gets bad enough to force Trump into a big concession?

intercst

4 Likes

TIG seems to be all about the deal, so he can brag about being the best dealmaker in the world. His first “peace” proposal for Ukraine reeked of “making a deal at any cost” as it was a total surrender to Putin and cramming it down Zelensky’s throat. So now, the war goes on, but he has a “deal”.

I’m confident TIG will call anything a “win”.

The CBS “news” talked to the operator of a US company making steel pipe. The operator said 25% tariff on imported steel isn’t enough. He wants the rate doubled, or tripled.

Steve

3 Likes

“I wonder if Xi is waiting until the US domestic situation gets bad enough to force Trump into a big concession?”

Seriously ???
Of Course he will wait for the US Domestic Situation to get bad enough to force Trump into a big,bad concession, lol.

Covid lockdown was not that long ago. At the time we did not know if it was life or death. And plenty of Americans could still not be bothered with doing what was good for our Society. A good sized percentage acted like any inconvenience was an internal act of war. And we are supposed to believe that now the American Public will batten down the hatches, because Trump says it’s got to be done ??? Color me skeptical,lol. I truly hope I’m wrong, but I do not see the American Public being able to outlast the Chinese Public in regards to dealing with shortages.
Like I said, hope I’m wrong. Trump walked the plank, and dragged all of us with him. Maybe this all goes away with just a few minor scrapes and bruises. But I’d bet that the Chinese can endure hardship better than Americans.

12 Likes

Sorry, intercst, I should have got that was sarcasm, lol.

2 Likes

TIG is the worst negotiator ever to hold the office of president, at least in my life time.

His supporters say his practice of starting big and them coming down is a tactic. It can be, but TIG started off big then immediately started making exceptions and pauses. In other words, China and other countries are getting concessions without giving up anything in return. Worse, TIG said tariffs would be lower. That’s great for China! They know the US isn’t committed to the number.

Xi hasn’t moved any of his pieces yet, because he doesn’t have to. The longer he waits, the better the deal gets. When the US comes down enough, he can start negotiating and make the deal even better for him.

Astonishing display of weakness from a US president.

13 Likes

That Trump is thought of by half the USAian public as either a good negotiator, shrewd businessman, and/or expert in economics shows the utter triumph of flimflammery ripening into social media over anything like “the News”. Even local newspaper “Society Pages” never fell for any of that, but lordy lordy did the “people”, mostly due to the power of Trump’s starring role as a businessman in The Apprentice.

Barf. We need people to wise up or die. Sigh.

11 Likes

Pretty basic one at that. Trouble is, you have to work off your leverage, and he’s not in a strong position. He installs a ridiculous tariff for the Chinese, and others, to sell here, paid for by the American citizens. Chinese mad, citizens mad, where ya gonna go?

1 Like

Trump’s talk is cheaper than most.

He is playing the nice guy. Delaying China in some regards. Trading some crop sales for some car parts and electronics? But everything else won’t change. Guess is.

We need some stability in China because our policies are about to cause starvation.

Meanwhile, Ford is jumping prices. Knowing how Farley rolls, I would not be surprised if his ATP and GP maintenance/escalation strategy is to raise prices, reduce standard equipment, and escalate prices on popular options a lot more than the base price is escalated, all at the same time.

Steve

Wise Up or Die! Sounds like an intriguing dystopian game show.

Scratch that, this is the one! I’m thinking a Running Man style show where contestants try to escape mobs of angry Chinese and angry citizens.

2 Likes

I believe the tactic is also known as ‘negotiating with yourself.’

9 Likes

In this case, it is negotiating against yourself.

4 Likes

Ah, the Firesign Theater and Beat the Reaper.

DB2

1 Like

Sounds like “Your Money or Your Life!” from the movie Brazil! The show is depicted as a garish, over-the-top game show where contestants are forced to choose between losing their money or their life, underscoring the darkly comic tone of Terry Gilliam’s film.

2 Likes

Now that the “arty deal” has been secured to give USian “JCs” preferential access to Ukrainian minerals, the regime’s stance vs Russia has hardened.

Steve

1 Like

We’ve gone from “It wouldn’t have happened if I was President” to “I will end it within 24 hours” to “We’re making real progress” to “Maybe I’m being strung along” to “Russia is asking too much”.

I’m going to guess the so-called tariff negotiations are going to follow the same basic trajectory.

Followed by the US economy.

10 Likes

4, 6 weeks shelves missing items or priced up dramatically but won’t sell
8 weeks layoffs
10 weeks deflation

Late July

We can all go on vacation. Including those of you who are retired.

1 Like

It hasn’t hardened as far as I can tell. Unprompted, the US stopped certain intelligence missions against Russia as a sweetener to open discussions. As an additional show of good faith, 1,200 CIA jobs will be eliminated. Russia didn’t even have to ask.

We agreed to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and set the new border approximately where the battle lines are today (this as per JD Vance). Russia is on board with this, but they also want the US and the EU to stop all military, economic, and intelligence aid to Ukraine, give Ukraine no security guarantees, lift all sanctions on Russia, and guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO or the EU. That’s a little much for our EU partners.

I occasionally watch Russian state media (provided by the great Julia Davis) to see what the Russians are thinking. They think negotiations are going great! They are astonished at the concessions the US is offering, and believe more are on the way. They see no reason to stop fighting because as they fight their position keeps improving, and thus reject any talk of a ceasefire.

Their position on Trump is a little mixed. They see him as a friend to Russia and an enemy of the EU, which they like a lot and they appreciate everything he is doing for Russia. But they also portray him as a buffoon and routinely mock and belittle him.

To be clear: This is state propaganda. This is what the government wants the people to think, not necessarily what the government is thinking.

3 Likes

The regime’s stance has changed a lot. They started out echoing Russian talking points. He was ridiculed so much on this board that the acronym for “Surrender Monkey In Chief” was banned by someone.

But that was before Ukraine gave the US preference in exploiting minerals.

Steve

It has dawned on Trump that he had no clue about Putin.

2 Likes