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Almost Everything Donald Trump Says About Trade With China Is Wrong

January 20, 2016

By Scott Lincicome

Being sane and strapped for time, I have resisted analyzing Donald Trump’s international trade policy out of the conventional belief—since proven wrong—that he would fade from the political limelight in 2016. But since Trump is apparently here to stay and has amplified his trade rhetoric, a review of one of those plans—to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods—is now warranted. So here we are, and what a disaster this plan is.

There really is no sugarcoating it: almost everything that Donald Trump has proposed on U.S.-China trade—for example, during last Thursday night’s GOP debate, in a recent the New York Times interview, and on his website—is wrong.

Very, very wrong.

First, the entire premise of Trump’s plan to retaliate against China is erroneous. Trump cites the U.S.-China trade deficit as proof that the dominant Chinese, via pernicious currency manipulation, are taking weak America’s manufacturing jobs, thereby justifying his tariff plans.

Read the full article at The Federalist: Almost Everything Donald Trump Says About Trade With China Is Wrong

Issue Categories : Donald Trump, Trade