Retardometer Goes to 11 as Trump Goes After China for What He Claims Is Sparing Americans From Paying for His Tariffs

Somehow China's "currency manipulation" is both nefarious and the best thing after sliced bread

August 5, 2019, China “currency manipulation” bad:

“Secretary Mnuchin, under the auspices of President Trump, has today determined that China is a Currency Manipulator,” the Treasury Department said in a release. “As a result of this determination, Secretary Mnuchin will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions.”

“In recent days, China has taken concrete steps to devalue its currency, while maintaining substantial foreign exchange reserves despite active use of such tools in the past,” the Treasury Department added. “The context of these actions and the implausibility of China’s market stability rationale confirm that the purpose of China’s currency devaluation is to gain unfair competitive advantage in international trade.”

August 5, 2019, China “currency manipulation” good:

Elaboration from August 1st in Ohio:

“Don’t let them tell you, the fact is — China devalues their currency, they pour money into their system. Because of that, you’re not paying for those tariffs. China’s paying for those tariffs,” the president said, hours after announcing the new set of tariffs on Chinese goods. “Until such time as there is a deal, we will be taxing the hell out of China.”

Now isn’t that interesting. “Currency manipulation” is the process by which takes the burden of Trump’s tariffs away from Americans and onto itself, but it is also something nefarious that has to stopped. Literally at the exact same time, depending on which corner of the mouth Trump is talking from.

It is something that gives China an “unfair advantage” in trade, but it is also something that means the US is “taxing the hell out of China”. How can something be so nefarious and yet at the same time the best thing after sliced bread? Which one is it?

And what exactly is his Ohio audience supposed to think now that Trump fuming that China should not be “devaluing its currency”? That Trump wants Americans to start paying for his tariffs? That he wants to stop being able to “tax China”?

What they should come away with is the realization that Trump is wholly convinced that they are as dim as he is.

Of course if China really is devaluing its currency to subsidy foreigners’ purchasing power* when buying Chinese goods then other countries which have not imposed tariffs will also benefit. Meaning the US was likewise already benefiting from this practice before the tariffs, meaning it was absurd to start a trade over it.

The savings millions were making on buying cheaper Beijing-subsidized goods were a golden opportunity for the American economy to expand even further. That this did not happen is not the fault of the Chinese but of the “currency manipulation” at home, necessary to keep the financial sector ballooning and the government deficits funded.

Instead China was made into a scapegoat and attacked for what Trump, when it suits him, recognizes was actually a sweet situation for the Americans.


*It has done so historically but current devaluation is a consequence of real pressures on the currency.

15 Comments
  1. Séamus Ó Néill says

    We are witnessing the death of the last imperial empire, even if it only ran for a few decades. The insanity inflicting Trump and his lunatic band of advisers could certainly give impetus to the quotation “Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” I see that the incautious consideration given to “Operation Sentinel” may now also have unintended consequences….China is considering sending its navy to the Persian gulf, to protect its own shipping, not exactly the intended outcome, when the bully wanted total control of all oil movements in the gulf !…A week is a long time in politics.

  2. Séamus Ó Néill says

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  3. CHUCKMAN says

    We all thought that George Bush had to be the dumbest man who would ever be elected to high office.

    But we were wrong.

    Actually, though, I do think it isn’t just Trump’s missing knowledge and intelligence that generate his bizarre performances.

    This man is definitely more than a bit unbalanced.

    1. BillA says

      I gather Trump has always been an egomaniac. The perfect US President ?

      1. Mary E says

        Just when did you ‘gather’ that?? Now take an even closer look…
        you will be surprised at what you find!

        1. BillA says

          for sure Trump is a bankruptcy specialist who speaks highly of himself, anything laudable ?

          1. DarkEyes says

            Methinks, he is the man who brings the US, United States Incorporation in Washington D.C., to a bankruptcy.
            Which is not the first time but I think now it will be the last time.

            Mr Trump is an expert in the field of bankrupts, as it seems.

    2. pooi-hoong chan says

      Trump is being advised by the insane, lunatic Navarro. It seems the latest 10 % tariffs was because Trump believed Navarro and overruled Lighthizer/Mnuchin.

      The madness is the synergistic workings of 2 lunatics.

  4. All_has_An _END_. says

    Honestly Trump is worst than a Puppet or a Bozo
    What a fucken moron
    But what is worst is that most Murikans won’t even catch these two controversy statements
    The decline is right in front of us
    The blind leads the blind to the well in the middle of the desert

  5. All_has_An _END_. says

    Coming from a country that simply prints unlimited money , typical hypocrisy from Murika

  6. Vish says

    This is case number 6,666,666 of a defining American pathology: projecting your own malign behavior onto your geopolitical opponents.

    In this case, America accuses China of currency manipulation even as the United States is the greatest currency manipulator on the planet:

    Let’s Talk About Currency Manipulation – Let’s Talk About The Federal Reserve
    https://eurasiafuture.com/2019/08/06/lets-talk-about-currency-manipulation-lets-talk-about-the-federal-reserve/

  7. stevek9 says

    The economies of China and the US are separating. Get used to it. It’s not the end of the World. We are moving back to ‘blocs’, China/Russia and the US, although as a European country, Russia would like to retain ties to Europe, if they can.

    1. DarkEyes says

      The western part of Eurasia is called “Europe”.

  8. Mary E says

    What happened to all the financial wizards in the US?? We never hear from them…and we know they aren’t behind the scenes working with Trump! Trump is insane and only knows chaos and is using it to attempt to convince Americans that he knows what he is talking about….we are not as ignorant or ‘dim’ as he is- unfortunately for him…
    only his base is in that group and fortunately, it is dwindling…

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