While much is said about the trade war from a Western media point of view, little is written about the Chinese point of view.
Last Sunday when President Trump decided to escalate the tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200B worth of imported Chinese goods, he probably did not know that that day was the 100th anniversary of the May 4th Movement in China which celebrated a revolt against the imperialist terms that the West imposed on China in the post World War 1 Treaty of Versailles.
To escalate trade tariffs on that day automatically made trade talks more inflammatory akin to China raising tariffs against the USA on Independence Day July 4th.
It'''s time for markets to end their illusions about US-China trade deal
The trade talks have become just one of many events of a new era of geopolitical and systemic competition that will define our times.
What appears to be most unacceptable to the trade talks is the US demand that China must change its national laws to abide by the deal's terms.
What do you think would happen if China demanded that the USA change its national laws to abide by the deal's terms?
For a leader like Chinese President Xi - who has staked his reputation on ending what his supporters see as China's "century of humiliation" at the hand of foreign powers, the on again and off again trade talks have become about so much more than trade.
China will continue to engage the USA in trade talks but not much is likely to happen until after the next USA Presidential election when China expects a more agreeable President will be elected.
It is estimated that if the trade war escalates the average US consumer will pay in excess of $800.00 in tariff taxes per year to the US gov't.
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