The president finally admitted American consumers pay the tariffs he imposes on other nations. American businesses pay the tariffs, and they decide if they will pass part or all of Trump’s additional tariffs to their consumers. Mr. Trump planned to put additional tariffs on all Chinese exports, but when the stock market took another hit from his threat, he backed off. The start date on most products is December, and some Chinese products won’t face additional tariffs.
Mr. Trump made those changes to protect his eroding economy not to give consumers a price break during the holiday shopping season, according to the New York Times. Some news reports say Trump wants consumers to pay for his tax cut.
The national debt is out-of-control on Trump’s watch, according to the Washington Post. Trump’s economic decisions and free-spending add $1 trillion to the national debt every year.
China told Trump they want him to do what he said he would do when he met President Xi at the G20 summit. Trump said he would lift the tech ban on Huawei, and get Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO and the daughter of CEO Ren Zhengfei. In return, Xi said China would buy more farm products. But when Trump didn’t lift the ban and blamed China for reneging on the deal, China told Trump they won’t talk to him.
Hong Kong is front and center in Trump’s trade war. Trump won’t help the protestors even though they fight for democracy under Chinese rule. If Trump intervenes, he might ruin his chance for another meeting with Xi before the 2020 election, according to the Times. Trump asked Xi for another meeting in one of his recent tweets.
Fed Chairman Jay Powell continues to take heat from Trump over the eroding economy. Trump claims raising interest rates last year was a huge mistake. He wants Powell to cut interest rates two more times in 2019 to offset the economic damage from his trade war. But Powell told the press Trump can’t bully the Federal Reserve. The Feds won’t do his political dirty work.
The threat of a global recession is the flavor of the day for five of the world’s biggest economies. Germany, the U.K., Italy, Mexico, and the United States will be officially in a recession mode by the second quarter of 2020. Some countries like Brazil, Singapore, and Hong Kong are one quarter away from a recession.
