maybe threaten to bring the MAGA hat production to the US

Fatten federal revenues with tariff monies, paid by consumers of all income levels, and then cutting taxes for the wealthy with the revenues.

It all fits into a plan for Trump. Rich people deserve more, poor people should starve to death. Only reward the 'Best People'.

Tariffs can be used to stimulate in county manufacturing and were imposed by the United States during its development stages. It was realized that it nation could not advance if it only was an exporter of raw materials. However, they were very selective. The world is not the same and a truly global economy makes the massive imposition of tariffs counter productive. China has been abusing the system and should be challenged. The manner in which the Trump administration is going about could lead to a disaster. I believe that we should have formed a block of countries, especially European and North and South American governments, to confront China with ultimatums to force their compliance to fair trade practices. The Trump administration actions don't appear to very effective and certainly are not solving the trade imbalance, equal access to their markets, manufacturing intelligence and currency manipulation. But, what can we expect from a Trump administration that is being lead by abject nincompoops who have amply demonstrated that they are totally uninformed and ill prepared to do anything worthwhile and only make the situation worse.

Is Trump working to crash the US economy because that is what Putin wants him to do?

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Beijing will slap tariffs of 5 or 10 percent on a list of about 5,200 U.S. products, such as honey, liquefied natural gas and smoked salmon. The tariffs will go into effect on Sept. 24, according to an informal translation of a Chinese Commerce Ministry announcement. Last month, Beijing had threatened tariffs of as much as 25 percent on some of the goods.


The Trump administration said on Monday it would go ahead with imposing a 10 percent duty on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports as of Sept. 24. Trump also warned that the U.S. would “immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports” — covering virtually all of China’s exports

snip

“They also know that I am the one that knows how to stop it. There will be great and fast economic retaliation against China if our farmers, ranchers and/or industrial workers are targeted!” he added.

China’s announcement brings the total amount of American goods hit with tariffs to roughly $113 billion. So far, the U.S. has slapped tariffs on about $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/18/china-trade-war-tariffs-retaliate-794449

Merry Christmas, everyone, from the Orange Mushroom Man.