“The tariff on Chinese tires is a unilateral presidential gift to a union. One hopes it is just a matter of throwing a small bone to the union movement, because to launch a trade war against China would be playing with fire.”
Agreed.
Free-traders do not like to see this kind of a political deal.. The stakes are high. I’m not convinced we need to play this kind of a game (Obama apparently is though, and it may be politically wise for him).
Also…just to throw it out there: Law At The End Of The Day notes a bigger picture though I wonder at the framework it lies within, arguing here:
“One thing that BRIC countries do not do, however, is compete against each other. They appear to manage to stay out of each other’s way in their efforts to overtake and perhaps replace the West as the privileged leading nations of the globe. This is a view that is cultivated deliberately and to good effect.”
That’s BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China…and I’m not sure they’re very well united), but perhaps it’s worthy to note that they do have incentives to work together against us as they must work with us.
Also On This Site: From Clive Crook: China Tarriffs Pose Needless Risk
