You know, I am delighted. President Trump has finally started to protect the whole democratic West from threatening Chinese world power. After his wild back and forth on tariffs over the last weeks, he finally decided on a tariff of 145% on Chinese products and has put almost all other tariffs on hold. That is roughly what I have been advocating for over the last 20 years and what I write in this book. It is really very good news for the survival of our Western democratic society!
The differences between my writing and what POTUS does is, first, that I propose a principled abolishing of free trade with China, while the White House just calls it ‘tariffs’; second, that he goes about it in a very different way, from what I suggest, see my book. What POTUS does is a bit less understandable and somewhat more chaotic, but it is nevertheless so very wonderful, because it is very necessary to stop China and it was high time the US started doing it.
The 145% are now stopping the free trade relation with China that the US had initiated under President Clinton. This also means, if Peter Navarro still is the adviser on the 145%, that this man has learned from his incredible mistakes under Trump 1. I therefore take back that he is incompetent. For having learned from his mistakes, as he has apparently done, Navarro deserves admiration.
And please note, all other tariffs are on hold for three months, which probably means that POTUS realizes they are not at all essential, as are only the ones on China.
But then, for the US to be really successful and stop China’s growth with Western money, the European Union should join and they too should stop their free trade with China. Will it finally dawn on Ursula von der Leyen what Donald is doing? Brussels must U-turn away from its incredible ignorance on why the EU is unable to compete, see the Draghi report. Whether they will do so is still unclear because over the last decades, at the European Commission, macro-economic common sense was woefully absent and still is. My guess is Mrs. von der Leyen will eventually see the light, because the Trump push is quite irresistible.
So far for now.