WASHINGTON President Donald Trump has said the US central bank has put him at a disadvantage in the trade war with Beijing but despite that “China is getting absolutely decimated” by his actions.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Trump said the Federal Reserve System, informally known as the Fed, has been “very, very destructive” to the US economy.
He added that “they (the Fed) certainly didn’t listen to me because they made a big mistake. They raised interest rates far too fast.”
Trump lamented that Chinese President Xi Jinping can issued directions to their central bank and make up for the impact of the tariffs imposed by the US president on Chinese goods.
“We should be entitled to have a fair playing field, but even without a fair playing field — because our Fed is very, very destructive to us — even without a fair playing field, we’re winning, because the tariffs are putting us at a tremendous competitive advantage,” he said.
“Don’t forget, the head of the Fed in China is President Xi. He’s the president of China. He also is the head of the Fed. He can do whatever he wants,” said Trump.
But even so “China is getting absolutely decimated” by US actions, he went on to claim.
The US and China have been in a trade war since last year when Trump began imposing tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods.
Trump escalated his trade war with China in May, increasing tariffs on about $200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent, prompting Beijing to retaliate with further duties of its own.
US government data shows that Trump’s tariffs imposed on Chinese goods are driving some American manufacturing out of China, but a significant amount remains outside of the United States.
Chinas neighbors are mainly benefiting from Washingtons trade war against Beijing, according to data released on Thursday by the US Census Bureau.
US imports from China decreased 12 percent during the first four months of 2019, compared to last year, but imports from Vietnam increased 38 percent during the same period, the government data shows.
Imports have also increased by 22 percent from Taiwan, 17 percent from South Korea, and 13 percent from Bangladesh.
The Census data suggests that US importers are finding ways to purchase from suppliers in that region.
Tariffs are paid by importers, not by exporting nations, and they can choose to either absorb the costs or pass them on to consumers.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that his tariffs will push US manufacturers to bring production back to America, a core promise during his election campaign.
However, the US president acknowledged that his trade wars are driving manufacturing elsewhere.
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