Donald Trump the president looks less and less like Donald Trump the candidate.

While campaigning last year, Trump promised, among other things, to label China a currency manipulator and rework or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement within his first 100 days. Neither is happening.

Trump recently told the Wall Street Journal that he won’t officially accuse China of currency manipulation, at least not any time soon. He hasn’t done anything about NAFTA, except to say “pleasant surprises” are coming. He has continued to threaten tariffs on certain imports from the two countries, but he hasn’t backed that with legislative or policy proposals. For all his bluster, Trump seems to be letting China and Mexico off the hook.

The two countries served as Trump’s most convenient bogeymen during the campaign, when he repeatedly claimed that low-paid workers from Mexico and China had taken millions of jobs that once belonged to Americans. Among Trump’s more memorable accusations:

“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country.”

Mexico is “killing us on trade.”

“Other countries are eating our lunch.”

Trump used the threat of trade wars to great effect during the campaign, convincing millions of American workers that a tougher stance on trade would make them better off. He now seems to be changing his mind, which is not surprising given that hundreds of economists and business leaders have warned that punitive tariffs and other protectionist measures would do more economic harm than good.

It might be tempting to call Trump a flip-flopper, but it’s also worth noting that his views on key economic issues seem to be maturing as he shifts from campaigning to governing. It has certainly happened to other newly elected presidents. Many campaign promises are never fulfilled, which is perhaps one reason Americans have soured on electoral politics.

Many Trump campaign promises would also be reckless if fulfilled. Labeling China a currency manipulator would open the door for US trade restrictions on China, and China would probably retaliate with similar sanctions on the United States. This would spook markets, probably sending stocks down. If such measures actually went into effect, prices of some imports would rise, with many ordinary families paying more. This is not what to do if you want to boost economic growth, a key Trump goal.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-letting-china-mexico-off-hook-203957437.html

Ijaya123:
Donald Trump the president looks less and less like Donald Trump the candidate.

While campaigning last year, Trump promised, among other things, to label China a currency manipulator and rework or withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement within his first 100 days. Neither is happening.

Trump recently told the Wall Street Journal that he won’t officially accuse China of currency manipulation, at least not any time soon. He hasn’t done anything about NAFTA, except to say “pleasant surprises” are coming. He has continued to threaten tariffs on certain imports from the two countries, but he hasn’t backed that with legislative or policy proposals. For all his bluster, Trump seems to be letting China and Mexico off the hook.

The two countries served as Trump’s most convenient bogeymen during the campaign, when he repeatedly claimed that low-paid workers from Mexico and China had taken millions of jobs that once belonged to Americans. Among Trump’s more memorable accusations:

“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country.”

Mexico is “killing us on trade.”

“Other countries are eating our lunch.”

Trump used the threat of trade wars to great effect during the campaign, convincing millions of American workers that a tougher stance on trade would make them better off. He now seems to be changing his mind, which is not surprising given that hundreds of economists and business leaders have warned that punitive tariffs and other protectionist measures would do more economic harm than good.

It might be tempting to call Trump a flip-flopper, but it’s also worth noting that his views on key economic issues seem to be maturing as he shifts from campaigning to governing. It has certainly happened to other newly elected presidents. Many campaign promises are never fulfilled, which is perhaps one reason Americans have soured on electoral politics.

Many Trump campaign promises would also be reckless if fulfilled. Labeling China a currency manipulator would open the door for US trade restrictions on China, and China would probably retaliate with similar sanctions on the United States. This would spook markets, probably sending stocks down. If such measures actually went into effect, prices of some imports would rise, with many ordinary families paying more. This is not what to do if you want to boost economic growth, a key Trump goal.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-letting-china-mexico-off-hook-203957437.html

The conman trump has no core values. He is a puppet that's useful to his masters.

Lucasbalo:
The conman trump has no core values. He is a puppet that's useful to his masters.

Quite right.