President Trump has tried to establish a new trade deal with China for the past 29 months and recently ended several months ago when China left the talks. Trump then threatened more tariffs on China's goods entering America. But on Saturday at the Group of 20 meeting in Osaka, Trump and China's leader XI found a place to talk on the sidelines concerning the status of the stalled talks. In those talks, Trump caved and told XI he would not implement those threatened new tariffs if China agreed to resume the trade talks.
The reports said XI agreed to resume the trade talks at a date to be announced. There are a few reasons Trumped caved and changed his tune. Despite Trump's so called tough talk, China has the upper hand. In pay back for Trump's tariffs, China put tariffs on American farm goods and products that have severely hurt American farmers. And in fact, Trump has asked congress to legislate billions of dollars in aid to assist those American farmers which will add to the federal deficit. This is a campaign year for Trump and as of this writing his tariffs have cost the American consumer dearly. Trump does not want to go into an election year and nothing to show the voters for his tough talk.
But the bottom line is no matter when an agreement comes about, if it does, China one can be sure will benefit the most. Because they are investing in the technologies that will shape the future of business, jobs, the environment and people's lives.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
