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Mike Hosking: Trump being a bully doesn't put America first

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Jun 2018, 7:33AM
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Mike Hosking: Trump being a bully doesn't put America first

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Jun 2018, 7:33AM

Here is the part I don't understand about Donald Trumps' trade war.

He is aggrieved that America doesn’t sell enough stuff to the world. And they buy in more than they sell.

That's called a trade deficit.

He puts it down to bad deals, and he wants to balance things up.

So in theory nothing wrong with that, until we get to where we are right now, which is a tit for tat tariff scrap.

One of the victims of the China-US tit for tat tariff scrap is soybeans. America grows a lot of soybeans, China buys a lot of soybeans.

Most of America's go to China.

And by making them more expensive with a tariff, sales will fall , and the only problem with that is the poor sap who gets hit is the soybean farmer of Iowa, Indiana or Minnesota.

Chances are they voted for Trump to make America great again. And they’ll be wondering how going broke is all that great.

That’s before, of course, you get to the hypocrisy of industry protection and general tariffs, which the Americans are as bad as anyone else.

There is an entire lobby industry worth billions designed specifically to protect the interests of American manufactures and producers.

And making it harder for Trump, is the reality that he's moving against the rest of the world.

The rest of the world is heading towards free trade, the free trade this country pioneered 40 years ago.

If China needs some more soybeans at a cheaper price, they can go to Brazil, Argentina or India.

Part of Trump's issue is he doesn’t seem to get that America isn't all that attractive as an exporter.

Their car industry would be a classic example, most of their cars are made for domestic consumption because they're big and ugly and no one wants to buy them.

Now is that trade imbalance because of a previously bad deal or because they can't make cars?

He seems to be mixing his messages, with walls and isolation he look like he wants to stand alone.

But then can’t get past the fact international trade isn't slanted his way, so a tariff war is the only answer.

In a free trade market, and this is where Germany comes in, you go to the world with goods you’ve made at prices the world likes.

No one does it better than Germany, they have a trade surplus to make the eyes water.

Why? Because the world likes BMWs more than Chryslers.

They have a surplus because they're good if not the best.

Our story in things like wine, dairy and kiwifruit is the same.

The best product for the best price, we have a surplus with a number of trading partners.

Trump fails to understand if he made better products at better prices, he'd help his cause.

Being a bully is going to help no one, least of all the farmer who voted for him expecting an outcome the exact opposite to what they're about to get.

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