No. of Recommendations: 1
But other countries are going to be very loathe to enter into any kind of serious, long-term arrangement that reorders trade with the U.S. without a lot of long, thoughtful review. Especially since they can't really get any assurances from our side that whatever they negotiate would be honored. Since Trump can't be trusted to abide by a trade agreement (even one he negotiated and was approved by Congress, sorry about your USMCA Canada and Mexico) there's little benefit in making significant concessions in order to get anything from us.That's one way of looking at it. There are several *other* ways to look at it.
https://amgreatness.com/2025/04/14/china-would-los...China is running a nearly $1-trillion trade surplus with the world. Its mercantilism is the result of market manipulations, product dumping, asymmetrical tariffs, patent, copyright and technology theft, a corrupt Chinese judicial system, and Western laxity—or what might be mildly called “bullying.” The U.S. accounts for about a third of China’s trade surplus, with most of the EU and Asian nations accounting for the other two-thirds.
In the past, third-party nations did not appreciate the ends to which China has gone to warp the international trading system. In one sense, unable to address their deficits with China, our friends and neutrals turned to America, where they sought to make up their trade asymmetries by going China-light and running surpluses with the U.S.We've allowed a lot of this to happen. Let's sum up some more things:
-China manipulates their currency to keep it cheap so their goods sell abroad.
-China steals IP wantonly around the globe
-China's judicial system openly favors Chinese defendants
...and more.
VDH's point of other nations balancing their deficits with China by selling in our very open market is a great one. Remind me, why are we allowing that again?
I've made this point in the past:
Countries like Panama, which once thought China’s Belt and Road Initiative was advantageous, soon learned that it was exploitative. Nothing is free with China. Its Silk Road policy is mostly designed to manipulate strategically located—and soon to be indebted and subservient—nations as future choke points in times of global tensions and is directed at the West in general and in particular the U.S.China is parking its Navy on strategic choke points for maritime trade around the globe. Be it the Panama Canal, the Cape of Good Hope, the Suez, name it, they're there. They're sending a very clear signal - readable to anyone with a map and a notion of who China is and what they want - that they intend to enforce their status as the world's supplier at the point of a gun one day.
VDH also ties this in
Most of the world accepts that the COVID-19 epidemic that killed and maimed millions worldwide was birthed in a Wuhan virology lab under the auspices of the People’s Liberation Army. The world also remembers that China and the Chinese-controlled WHO lied repeatedly about the origins and spread of the virus.
The global public may recall that China stopped all domestic flights out of Wuhan on the internal news of the lab leak of the virus, while for days greenlighting nonstop air travel to major European and American cities. Yeah...you folks on this board may think Trump is driving other countries into China's arms...but you need to take into account a few more things.
And there's this carrot Trump can offer:
For now, Trump should persuade our allies that if they were not so subject to Chinese mercantilism, they would have more flexibility to ensure fair trade with the U.S. And thus, they should not do something self-destructive and side with China but instead join the U.S. to force China to keep its long-broken promises and play by international rules. A reduced import footprint from China in the U.S. could make room for increased imports from the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—if they strike parity deals with the Trump administration.
