TellyKNeasuss
Illuminator
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2006
- Messages
- 3,784
Nicholas Kristof on _____ and Xi:
The most important bilateral relationship in the world today is between the United States and China, and Trump has bungled it. He started a trade war that Washington has been losing, and if a truce is formalized this week, it will likely be one with China holding power over America and leaving our influence diminished.
In effect, Trump started a trade war and soon found that he was carrying a tariff to a knife fight. The trade bully unexpectedly found himself bullied, so he began to court China and make concessions.
Trump dialed back tariffs (before threatening new ones). He eased rules on exporting chips to China. He allowed TikTok to continue to operate in the United States, despite serious national security concerns. He blocked a visit to the United States by Taiwan’s president and reportedly delayed an arms sale to Taiwan. As the Center for American Progress put it, “the Trump administration’s approach to China is in a strategic free fall.”
We Americans may have lost not just a trade war but a chunk of our global credibility and influence for years to come, in ways that would be seen globally as a harbinger of American decline.
