patrick.net

Looks like Trump is cranking up the fuck-a-you meter against China. Seems like he wants more than just tariffs, and is looking at other alternative forms of leverage that can be used to bitch slap them back down in their place.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-hits-session-low-amid-report-that-white-house-weighing-limit-on-us-investments-in-china-2019-09-27

U.S. stock indexes took a leg lower Friday afternoon, relinquishing modest gains, after a report that the White House is considering a limit to Chinese companies trading on U.S. exchanges, according to Bloomberg News. The article, citing people familiar, indicates that a crackdown on capital flows would intensify the tariff battle being waged between the world's biggest economies, just as the parties have set an Oct. 10-11 date to meet in Washington to resolve their differences on trade and intellectual-property rights. Under consideration is a delisting of China-based stocks that trade on U.S. exchanges and removing some of those companies from certain funds.

I must admit when I first heard of his tariff strategy years ago, I thought "only as a temporary negotiation tool" but now I feel different. The more I think about it, the more I feel that China is a serious threat to us, and that all power that we allow them to accumulate will be used against us. Like how they swore up and down to Obama that the S. China Sea wouldn't be militarized, and then right away they started making buildings, lol'ing in our face by leaving out the key distinctions that would make them "military buildings" until they were almost done, and then they militarized it as a final step. "lol those stupid round-eyes".

Tariffs may hurt our economy, but there's a bigger strategic picture to look at here IMO. If we play our cards right, we can probably get a decent amount of manufacturing to move to other non-china countries, which is good for us because it keeps competition in the markets, and keeps china from acquiring too much leverage and power - power that they will no doubt use in a monopolistic fashion against us. Also, if we keep them from getting too powerful, it will likely save us significant military costs too.

Continuing the same path we've had with china is like charging up a credit card. It feels good in the short term, but it will ruin us. The right solution is to change course and get off the china rickshaw-ride, and stick a leg out to trip them while were at it - making them fall on their face.