8 days ago, I posted an article regarding US President Trump's decision to raise tariffs on imported China goods. When this curveball was thrown, the ball was firmly in China's court.
Last Friday's dinner meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and China's Vice Premier Liu He failed to yield any rescue trade deal.
Why would anyone think any differently. Obviously, China was not going to soften their stance and back down from the US tariff hike. Doing so would be 'weak'.
China’s retaliatory tariffs will be imposed at the following levels:
- 25% tariffs on 2,493 items from current 10%
- 20% tariffs on 1,078 items from current 10%
- 10% tariffs on 974 items from current 5%
- 5% tariffs to continue on 595 items. Auto parts, which were initially on the list but have been exempted since December, are still excluded
What's next? 25% tariff to be imposed on ~$325 Billion on China's goods, as mentioned in Trump's tweet on 5 May 2019.
To say that Donald Trump did not expect this reaction on China's part is... hogwash. He precisely knew what China's response was going to be - raising tariffs on US goods. And would you be surprised if you found out that Trump and his network of wealthy friends are making a killing in the financial markets?
Influencing and lobbying by wealthy corporations and families are prevalent since the inception of governments. And when Trump's every word about the trade war dictates the financial markets, I hope you wouldn't be naive to think they didn't gain anything out of this ridiculous rally and sell off for the past months.
More carnage in the financial markets? Only Trump knows!