CCTV News:On August 1st, the Central Radio and Television General Station’s "International Sharp Review" broadcast an article entitled "Seeing through America’s Two-Handed Tricks", which was reprinted by many overseas media.
From August 1 ST to 3 rd, the German website of European Times, the website of Radio Spain International, the website of RADIOWE in Italy (facebook, twitter), the website of Daily Morning News in India, the website of Czech News Today, the facebook account of Jordan Global Radio, the Chinese headline APP, the Portuguese news APP(facebook, twitter), the website of Nordic Times, the website of European Union Chinese website, the website of Europe-China United Times, and the African Times. On August 2, Indonesia’s International Daily and Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po also published this article. The main reports are as follows:
The Sino-US economic and trade contest, which lasted for more than four months, has seen a new situation in the past two days.
According to Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, representatives of U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and China’s Vice Premier Liu He are holding private talks on resuming Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultations. Meanwhile, the United States may start to impose tariffs on about $16 billion of goods imported from China as early as August 1. In addition, the report also quoted sources as saying that the US government is considering imposing a 25% tariff on China goods worth 200 billion US dollars, which is higher than the previously declared 10% tariff rate.
While releasing the rumor that it wants to negotiate with China, it raises the tariff stick higher and higher. Obviously, the US side has no sincerity to really solve the problem, but still wants to get more benefits by playing tricks. This has long been expected by the Chinese side. Because China has learned from its treacherous and capricious behavior before, it can be said responsibly that whether the US imposes tariffs on $16 billion or $200 billion of goods, whether it adopts a 25% tax rate or a 10% tax rate, China is ready to use both quantitative and qualitative measures to resolutely fight back!
Looking back at the changes since the US started the first shot of the Sino-US trade war on July 6, it is not difficult to find that the White House is hiding three big attempts behind the trick of talking with one hand and playing with one hand:
First of all, because the trade war with China has not made any immediate progress, the Trump administration is anxious and intends to further exert extreme pressure on China in a more radical way.
From 50 billion to 200 billion, and even all the goods exported from China to the United States, the Trump administration has been increasing the price for more than four months, trying to force China to make concessions. However, the White House found that this "art of trading" failed to deal with China. Because China is not any trading partner that the United States has suppressed in the past, China has its own development rhythm and unique resource endowment, and the free trade and multilateral system that China adheres to conforms to the global trend and development trend, and has won international morality and people’s hearts. Therefore, despite the United States’ carrot and stick and all kinds of tricks, it has not got any cheap from China so far. On the contrary, because of China’s resolute counterattack, the United States itself is in a passive position. White House policymakers are very anxious. Recently, US Secretary of Commerce Ross came out to let the wind out, saying that the United States must take a radical stand against China’s "unfair trade" practices, and now is a good time to do so.
According to the plan, the Office of the US Trade Representative will hold a hearing on the proposed tariff increase on China’s $200 billion goods exported to the United States in late August. Before the hearing, the US announced that it would raise the tax rate. Obviously, it wanted to exert double pressure on China’s implementation time and tax rate to force China to make more concessions.
Second, the voice of opposition to the trade war in the United States has risen, and the Trump administration has tried to pass on the pressure. People noticed that on July 31st, Trump gave a speech at a political rally in Florida, and spent a long time defending his trade policy, acknowledging that the interests of American farmers were harmed by China’s anti-tariff measures. This shows that Trump has felt unprecedented political pressure on his tough tariff policy.
In fact, the American economy is not as bright as the data shows. Although the recently announced US economic growth in the second quarter reached 4.1%, in the view of professional economists, this growth was due to strong exports, especially soybean exports. Because, soybean exporters are eager to sell their goods quickly before China’s anti-tariff takes effect. In addition, the overall investment in the United States in the second quarter was lower than that in the first quarter, which also dragged down the growth of real GDP. This proves from the side that Trump’s tax reduction plan has not actually promoted the recovery of American manufacturing.
Under the shadow of tariff stick and trade war, a group of large enterprises in the United States have increasingly felt the pressure. For example, General Electric estimates that the total cost will increase by $300 million to $400 million, while General Motors and Ford Motor Co., Ltd. also lowered their annual profit expectations. Economists warn that in the end, all the costs of a trade war will be added to consumers. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and a professor at Columbia University, recently wrote that the United States is in danger of losing its trade war with China. Charles Kirk, the Republican "big money owner", said recently that the US’s provoking of a trade war may lead to a recession in the US economy, and he wants to launch a campaign to promote free trade and oppose tariff policies. This is undoubtedly a blow to Trump.
Under the double pressure of politics and economy, the White House chose to release the information that representatives of China and the United States were negotiating to restart negotiations before the US stock market opened on July 31. Its intention to stimulate the stock market and boost confidence is self-evident. However, at the same time, it has raised tariffs on China, and its intention to divert domestic contradictions and attempt to attract foreign disasters is also obvious.
Third, the Trump administration is not satisfied with solving the trade deficit problem with China at all, but wants to change the development path of China.
If we want to simply solve the trade deficit problem, China and the United States can gradually solve it by expanding business, and both sides reflected this demand and desire as early as the Washington Consensus in mid-May. However, the United States believes that China has not done enough. Ten days later, it reneged and broke its promise. This time, the United States once again raised the tariff stick to intimidate China, which can only make people see more clearly: China’s trade surplus is narrowed again, and it is impossible to satisfy the Trump administration’s "appetite"; Its real intention is to force China to carry out "structural reform" according to the requirements of the United States, and fundamentally change China’s development model and development path.
Any sovereign country has the right to choose its own development path. It is impossible for the United States to provoke a trade war and change China’s development strategy. However, since there is no winner in the trade war, China has been unwilling and unwilling to fight from the beginning, and has always tried its best to solve the problem through negotiations with the greatest sincerity. However, all negotiations should be based on equality, respect and good faith. While talking and talking, the White House keeps threatening and pressuring, destroying the negotiation atmosphere. Is this the "negotiation mode" of the White House? How can it win the trust of its negotiating opponents? For the trade war, China is not afraid to fight, and it has to fight if necessary. If the United States really wants to solve the problem through negotiations, it should put down its stick and show sincerity.
A number of overseas media forwarded "International Sharp Review" articles:
Radio Spain International website forwarded on August 1, 2018
Italian RADIOWE website (facebook, Twitter) forwarded on August 1, 2018.
India’s "Daily Morning News" website was forwarded on August 1, 2018
Jordan Global Radio facebook account forwarded on August 1, 2018
Portuguese news APP(facebook, Twitter) forwarded on August 3, 2018.
Indonesia’s International Daily was published on August 2, 2018.
Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao was published on August 2, 2018.
Hong Kong Wen Wei Po was published on August 2, 2018.
