Tweery Twump's advisors do not understand that a trade imbalance does not necessarily mean any other country is taking advantage of America. It could be just plan supply and demand and quality at work, no cheating at all.
A 'Trade War' is a negative approach to trade centered on one's own country's benefit. So to start, being negative, it will usually end up badly. Trade Wars are a form of "protectionism" which means we must feel we are being attacked, via trade. That cannot bode well for the parties either.
The obvious negative effect occurs when Country A raises tariffs on Country B's imports in retaliation for Country B raising tariffs on Country A's imports.
Tariffs are bad in my opinion. They mess with the natural course of supply and demand based on quality.
Tweety Twump wishes to start a Trade war because he perceives some country's trading practices are unfair. InTweety Twump's case, his Trade war shows a clear misunderstanding of the widespread benefits of free trade.
Tweety is not smart about international trade. Here are expert opinions why Twump is wrong.
"Why America Would Lose a Trade War With China"
Winter Nie
Dec 22, 2016
http://fortune.com/2016/12/22/donald-trump-china-trade-war/
"A trade war would be problematic, but it would not be a disaster for China, mainly because the U.S. needs China more than vice versa. Twenty years ago, the situation might have been different. China was dramatically underdeveloped, and it wanted access to Western technology and manufacturing techniques. China has most of what it needs now, and what it doesn’t have it can easily obtain from vendors outside the U.S. While the American market looked enticing a few decades ago, it is relatively mature, and today the newer emerging market countries have become much more interesting to Beijing."
"8 reasons why starting a trade war with China is a bad idea"
by Charles Riley @CRrileyCNN November 17, 2016: 3:52 AM ET
http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/16/news/economy/us-china-trade-war-donald-trump/
"Goldman Sachs claims Donald Trump trade war would hurt US and Chinese economic growth"
The US President’s combative trade stance threatens to derail growth in export-dependent economies around the globe
"Goldman Sachs analysts are looking at how a trade war between the US and China would hurt growth in the world’s biggest economies, and the outlook isn’t pretty."
"WSJ’s Daily Shot: The Dangers of a U.S.-Mexico Trade War"
ByLev Borodovsky
Jan 27, 2017 12:06 am ET
http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyshot/2017/01/27/wsjs-daily-shot-the-dangers-of-a-us-mexico-trade-war/
"Trump’s trade war: Threats against Mexico could affect consumers"
Mexico would have more to lose in a trade war, but consumers on both sides of the border would feel the impact
by Angelo Young
Friday, Jan 20, 2017 9:59 AM UTC
http://www.salon.com/2017/01/20/trumps-trade-war-threats-against-mexico-could-impact-consumers/
"Trump’s pick to become the nation’s next commerce secretary, billionaire investor and job exporter Wilbur Ross, has vowed to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement as part of Trump’s larger strategy of bringing back manufacturing jobs lost to the forces of automation and globalization to American shores.
“All aspects” of the 23-year-old preferential trade pact are on the table, Ross said during Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday, adding, “NAFTA is logically the first thing for us to deal with.”
But Trump’s proposals for steep import tariffs are so radical it’s freaking out the U.S. business community and could lead to a showdown with Republican lawmakers whose backers depend on low-cost access to foreign markets. Mexico has benefitted greatly from NAFTA, but the benefits are in both directions across the border.
Despite the trade deficit that the U.S. has with Mexico, American companies exported about $270 billion worth of goods and services to its southern neighbor, according to the latest trade figures, from 2015. These American exports included made-in-the-U.S heavy machinery, vehicles and petroleum products. Mexico is also the third-largest market for U.S. agricultural products including corn, soybeans, dairy, pork and beef — the kind of things produced in areas of the country that helped get Trump elected. Anything Trump wants to do on trade that hurts the Farm Belt will face considerable pushback from congressional Republicans."
"Trump’s Trade War May Have Already Begun"
By PETER S. GOODMANJAN. 30, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/business/economy/trumps-mexico-china-tariff-trade.html
"LONDON — America’s traditional allies are on the lookout for new friends.
They have heard the mantra “America First” from the new president, divining a Trump doctrine: global cooperation last. Europeans have taken note of Mr. Trump’s denigration of the European Union and his apparent esteem for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin. In Asia and Latin America, leaders have absorbed the deepening possibility that Mr. Trump will deliver on threats to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican and Chinese imports, provoking a trade war that will damage economic growth and eliminate jobs around the world.
Some allies are shifting focus to other potential partners for new sources of trade and investment, relationships that could influence political, diplomatic and military ties. Many are looking to China, which has adroitly capitalized on a leadership vacuum in world affairs by offering itself — ironies notwithstanding — as a champion for global engagement.
“We’ve always said that America is our best friend,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup — comprising finance ministers from countries sharing the euro currency — said in an interview with The New York Times on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this month. “If that’s no longer the case, if that’s what we need to understand from Donald Trump, then of course Europe will look for new friends.”
“China is a very strong candidate for that,” he added. “The Chinese involvement in Europe in terms of investment is already very high and expanding. If you push away your friends, you mustn’t be surprised if the friends start looking for new friends.”
On Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany spoke by telephone with Premier Li Keqiang of China. “The two spoke in favor of free trade and a stable world trade order,” a German government spokesman later said in a written statement."
