Can China win in a trade war against the USA?

China couldn't beat Australia in a trade war. so I think the US will be OK.

China is a mercantilist nation. It always has put in place all kinds of roadblocks to real competition. Foreigners can't be majority shareholders of Chinese corporations. Too often they require "joint ventures" to get the foreign company to locate. Then once they learn the new technology they often will copy it and become an outright competitor. The have lots of non-tariff barriers too but the real kicker in Chinese trade is that the state subsidizes Chinese exports. That is why you can ship and price Chinese products in the USA market so cheap. There are some amazing mismatches, like 4x8 plywood that I have seen in Home depot's in forest rich USA states. China and others manipulate their currencies as well. There are even two different rates of Yuan, onshore and offshore.

Lagarde the consummate NWO elite, is all about economic liberalism that is not that well grounded. Yes, these people quote the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act as one of the big problems as to the Great Depression. Wow, a case study from 90 years ago, that is applied today?
Frankly, there are very little comparative advantages left. The textbooks still act like it exists but why? Any MNC has the technology and they can produce anywhere. Globalization has reduced many of those advantages and few are country specific as Ricardo assumed.

So back to the article, will the USA lose in a trade war? It already has. Can Trump right the ship? Perhaps, but it takes time. There are billions in sunk costs in China. MNC's don't relocate that easily but it is starting. Just don't expand trade restrictions worldwide. That is where Trump is likely going to get the US in trouble. The other problem is that these elites who sold us globalization may purposely try to tank Trump's policies.

There are ways to get around tariffs. Yes, we want to start up our manufactures but what good is that when China cuts us off from rare earths? Trump loves this country and believes it's a great country but to antagonize our supplier is inflationary. Today's economy is not the same as when some of us kids remember as T mentioned, and we were more self-sufficient back then. I hope Trump tones down his bullishness with our neighbors. We are not in a position for trade wars.

Nobody wins trade wars.

Laodicean60 said:

There are ways to get around tariffs. Yes, we want to start up our manufactures but what good is that when China cuts us off from rare earths? Trump loves this country and believes it's a great country but to antagonize our supplier is inflationary. Today's economy is not the same as when some of us kids remember as T mentioned, and we were more self-sufficient back then. I hope Trump tones down his bullishness with our neighbors. We are not in a position for trade

Click to expand...

Australia will be happy to sell you rare earths.

Malleeboy said:

Australia will be happy to sell you rare earths.

Click to expand...

Yes, luckily Australia didn't gut their mining operations.

Vambram said:

Apparently, there are major sources of rare earth minerals & elements in the USA.

Estimated 2.34 billion Metric Tons of Rare Earth Minerals Discovered in US

An estimated 2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth minerals (REMs) were recently discovered near Wheatland, a town in southeastern Wyoming.

www.theearthandi.org

Click to expand...

Yep, but too many environmental regulations.