According to Sinocism, a newsletter service I subscribe to, here’s what President Trump told Fox Business News regarding the U.S. relationship with China.
“There are many things we could do..We could cut off the whole relationship.”…
“Now, if you did, what would happen?…You’d save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship.”…
I ordinarily would dismiss such talk as not worth noticing or responding to. But Trump has a way of creating his own realities that are amplified in the right-wing echo chamber until they become real in his mind.
The simple truth is that the U.S.-Chinese business and economic relationship is so enormous that it would take years to terminate it and it would cause massive dislocation in both countries. Our stock market would crater. Our major retailers would have to scramble for new suppliers. You wouldn’t be able to walk into a Wal-Mart and get exactly what you need for perhaps years to come.
We also are in a global embrace with China. Our companies and our technologies are competing all over the world. Do we just walk away from Japan and South Korea because they buy and sell to China? Do we completely abdicate our global role?
Everyone who has read my books, articles and blogs know I believe we need major work to re-establish balance in the relationship. We have to stop the hacking and espionage and technology theft. We have to counter China’s soft power projection. There are many more things we should be doing. But talking about severing the relationship is just nuts. And there’s no evidence that we would “save $500 billion.” That’s just imaginary thinking. But as I said, Trump’s imaginary thinking has a way of becoming real in his mind. He’s capable of doing anything amid the pandemic and before an election. Where are the responsible voices in the Republican Party and in the business community?
