It should come as little surprise that the guy who lost more than literally any other American taxpayer for a period of at least the early 1990s is struggling to handle the economy of the United States. President Donald Trump is adamantly refusing to concede that maybe, just maybe, the incessant import taxes he’s slapped on mass amounts of goods from around the world aren’t the cure for all evils that he’s claimed. Monday, he attempted to defend the U.S. tariff-driven aggression towards China and flailed miserably in the process, completely ignoring the tangible reality of the many American interests hurt by many goods suddenly costing more.
He railed, in part:
‘There is no reason for the U.S. Consumer to pay the Tariffs, which take effect on China today… the Tariffs can be completely avoided if you buy from a non-Tariffed Country, or you buy the product inside the USA (the best idea). That’s Zero Tariffs. Many Tariffed companies will be leaving China for Vietnam and other such countries in Asia. That’s why China wants to make a deal so badly!’
That’s all false. How exactly does the president hope to convince people that there’s “no reason” for Americans to pay the tariffs that he recently imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports? Suddenly, it costs more for those goods to come into the United States — so the people and interests bringing them here and buying them are facing, wait for it, higher prices. What exactly does Trump think they can do to make that not a reality? Wish it away?
He claimed some data supporting his notion that Chinese interests are the ones feeling the heat, but there’s no immediate indication where the numbers actually came from.
There’s not even a clear indication that China “wants to make a deal so badly.” Former Chinese commerce official Wei Jianguo shared:
‘China has not only the determination and capability, but also willingness to fight a prolonged war… China will not only act as a kung fu master in response to U.S. tricks, but also as an experienced boxer and can deliver a deadly punch at the end.’
The nation has already imposed harsh retaliatory tariffs on tens of billions of dollars worth of American products that will even more directly hurt American industry and are set to take effect June 1 unless Trump acts fast. There’s no indication he plans on doing that, insisting in the face of Chinese retaliation that the situation will “only get worse.”
Check out Twitter’s response…
Featured Image via screenshot
