The Trump trade war may never end

Trump’s latest dodge is a claim he made on Aug. 26 about Chinese officials calling “our top trade people” and supposedly saying, “let’s get back to the table.” China says nobody on their side made such a call, leaving investors trying to figure out whether to believe a U.S. president with a pattern of chronic lying or a mouthpiece for China’s communist government. Hmmm.

Chinese President Xi Jinping knows whether such a call took place. Imagine if there was no such call, and Trump is lying, and Xi knows he’s lying. That tells Xi Trump is so desperate to be seen making progress on trade that he’ll lie to the world about it. Advantage: Xi.

China’s pain threshold
Trump and his supporters keep saying the trade war is hurting the Chinese economy more than the U.S. economy. That may be true, but like the North Vietnamese army colonel said of U.S. dominance on the battlefield, it is also irrelevant. What is relevant is China’s tolerance for pain versus America’s, and President Xi’s political vulnerability compared with President Trump’s.

Trump, of course, has to face an election in 14 months, and he’ll need something to show for his trade war with China other than tariffs that raise prices on consumers and struggling farmers who have lost access to China’s markets. Xi isn’t impervious to political pressure, but he faces no reelection. In fact, there may be more pressure on Xi in China from hard-liners opposed to any deal with Trump that involves concessions the U.S. side can claim as victory.

via Yahoo The Trump trade war may never end