President Trump loves to play on American fears that we have been victimized by evil foreigners. He says we are the “laughing stock” of the world and the world’s “piggy bank” because of our persistent trade deficits. But in truth, if any other country ran such large trade and fiscal deficits for so many decades, […]…
Category: blog
An Important Article in The New York Times–How To Respond to China’s Technology Aspirations
Finally, the dam has broken and someone is talking sensibly about how the United States should respond to China’s stated intention to dominate many of the world’s emerging technologies by 2025, such as autonomous driving and Artificial Intelligence. Tariffs are not the answer. They have zero chance of working. Instead, Americans should out-innovate China, as […]…
What If Trump Is Just as Wrong About Tariffs As He was Kim Jong-un?
President Trump could be about to make the worst single decision of any president during my lifetime, and that includes the presidency of Richard Milhous Nixon. If Trump follows through and starts a new round of much more significant tariffs against Chinese products tonight, he could begin unraveling the relationship that has been developing for […]…
The Critically Flawed Assumption Behind Trump’s China Bashing
President Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro is quoted today as saying, “President Trump has given China every chance to change its aggressive behavior. China does have much more to lose than we do.” The size of American threats against China’s trade surplus now reach as high as $450 million. Navarro and Trump seem to […]…
Trump’s Tariffs Against China Won’t Halt Its Technology Ambitions
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is right when he argues that the United States must move forcefully to enhance America’s leadership in technology and innovation. But tariffs won’t get the job done and will make U.S. companies in China even more tempting targets for government strong-arming. China has an industrial policy called “Made in China […]…
