When I read this kind of thing, I think to myself, do the Americans understand how China is likely to approach this? Firstly, they'll agree on something, and then back at home they'll put the price up for US importers, especially on those critical materials. No way will they just sit back and take a loss. Then, when it comes to opening up, they'll do the opposite by making life very difficult for American companies. They'll use environmental, health and safety compliance to prevent American companies access. Currently, Caterpillar has their Asian base headquartered in China, they moved there from Japan about 20 years ago. They'll begin to make theirs, and other US companies lives difficult.
Shipping will be restricted and de-prioritised. US ships will be loaded last, made to wait at the back of the queue. Lastly, China will shop in the US but never buy as everything is unsuitable - they'll say. This trade war initiated by Trump will be very expensive for the US; US consumers will pay higher prices, receive slower shipments, and US companies hoping to operate within China, or sell them anything at all, will face major hurdles.
And the 10% baseline tariff is unworkable. If the US had made it 2%, likely few would object, but 10% is basically saying go away, we don't want your goods.
The White House has announced that a trade deal with China has been struck after two days of talks in Geneva, while Beijing has hailed “important first steps.”
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