China was used to weak and bought and paid for American presidents so they never took their words or threats seriously.
Why would they – the Chinese knew our leaders and corporate chieftains were getting enormously wealthy selling out our middle class and did not want to stop the gravy train – so they gambled greed would win out over patriotism.
They were right…for a while, but eventually, the American public got wise and elected Trump to restore balance. His rise is really that simple.
And he has more than succeeded. From Business Insider:
Chinese state-owned firms made a huge order of soybeans on Wednesday, according to a new report, the first concrete sign that Beijing is following through on promises made as part of the trade war truce.
Reuters, citing two US commodity traders, reported that state-owned firms bought more than 500,000 tons of soybeans worth roughly $180 million on Wednesday. Chinese purchases of soybeans had collapsed by more than 90% since President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused Beijing to respond with tariffs of their own on US crops.
China was the largest market for US soybeans in 2017, accounting for around $14 billion in sales— more than 60% of total soybean exports. Soybean exports to China accounted for around 10% of the total value of all US agricultural exports last year.
But tariffs on US soybeans and ongoing trade war caused the amount of soybeans heading to China to drop to nearly zero, despite October and November typically representing the peak season.
The move also shows that Beijing is perhaps serious about following through on promises made during Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dinner at the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On Tuesday, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He — the country’s top trade negotiator — promised US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that China would soon deliver on short-term fixes like soybean purchases and lowering of tariffs on US-made cars.
And that is not all – China also just agreed to open its markets to more foreign goods. From CNBC:
“It’s rather remarkable that they agreed to get rid” of it, said the “Mad Money” host, shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials are drafting a replacement for Made in China 2025. The plan, championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, was meant to enhance China’s competitiveness and foster the country’s high-tech industries.
According to the Journal, China is working on a new program — set to be introduced early next year — to provide increased access to the world’s second-largest economy for overseas companies.
The report comes amid a 90-day truce between Washington and Beijing on any new tariffs on each other’s goods while talks to settle their disputes continue. In the latest moves, the Trump administration in September levied 10 percent duties on $200 billion worth of goods from China, prompting Beijing to put tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods.
On “Squawk on the Street, ” Cramer said the White House needs to get China to admit that it does “reckless stealing,” possibly referring to theft of intellectual property by China.
Cramer later added to his CNBC remarks on Twitter, by tweeting, “2025 must be renounced by word AND deed and the PRC must stop ordering espionage NOW.”
