Fool’s Mission: Repercussions Mount But Trade War Really Just Starting

Despite mounting repercussions of Trump’s misguided trade war, insiders suggest the trade wars are just starting.

Axios has an estimation of Trump’s trade war that I agree with: Trump Wants China to Suffer More.

The following is written in Guest Post fashion.

President Trump has no intention of easing his tariffs on China, according to three sources with knowledge of his private conversations. Instead, these sources say he wants the Chinese leaders to feel more pain from his tariffs — which he believes need more time to fully kick in.

“He wants them to suffer more” from tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, said a source with direct knowledge of Trump’s thinking, and the president believes the longer his tariffs last, the more leverage he’ll have.

Why this matters: Trump’s trade war with China is at the “beginning of the beginning,” according to a source familiar with Trump’s conversations. And his team doesn’t expect much from the tentatively planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires next month.

The Trump economic team has done no substantive planning so far for the bilateral meeting’s agenda, largely because the purpose of the meeting is for Trump and Xi to reconnect, eyeball each other, and feel each other out amid their escalating trade war.

“It’s a heads of state meeting, not a trade meeting”, a source with direct knowledge told Axios.

Between the lines: “Trump is thinking about this meeting as a personal reconnection with President Xi, not a meeting that’s going to evolve into detailed discussions”, said a source familiar with Trump’s thinking. “The sides are very far apart. … Right now, there’s not the common basis for proceeding”.

Trump isn’t focused on the details of a potential China deal. He’s focused on creating more leverage, according to another source who recently discussed the U.S.-China standoff with the president.