Not Much "Winning" In Trump's New Trade Deal With China

Remember all that winning we were going to get. Remember that crackdown on Chinese currency manipulation and tariffs against those Chinese goods that had turned us all into losers. Remember all those great trade deals that Trump was going to negotiate. Well you might as well forget it. The most recent trade deal that the Trump administration has signed with China is plain and simple business as usual, despite Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' Trumpian claim that the deal was a "Herculean effort" that "is more than has been done in the whole history of U.S.-China relations on trade." Challenge!

Let's go through the ten major items of this "herculean effort". The first item is a Chinese promise to allow beef imports from the US which had been suspended since 2003 due to an outbreak of mad cow disease. The Chinese had already agreed to do this under the Obama administration but this deal provides a firm date for it to actually happen. In return, the US agree to allow Chinese cooked poultry into the US markets. That sounds like more competition for US poultry producers with probably low-priced and toxic Chinese poultry for consumers. Winning!

The Chinese agreed to initiate a study that could eventually lead to the ability of US seed companies to sell GMO seeds to China. In addition, the agreement allowed US liquefied natural gas producers (LNG) to export to China. This could actually be an important market for LNG exports as China does not produce much domestically. Of course, the reason China is desperate for LNG is to wean itself off of coal, meaning a probably corresponding reduction in US coal exports to China. Winning, especially for those coal miners!

The next item allows US credit-rating agencies and electronic payment services to operate in China. In return, the US agrees to allow broader access to the US markets by Chinese financial institutions.

Lastly, The US agrees to send a delegation to a forum in China promoting that government's "One Belt, One Road" investment initiative. This is China's attempt to solidify not only its economic but also its political ties in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. More winning, helping China improve its standing in the world!

You might notice that there is no mention of Chinese currency manipulation but that's because it miraculously stopped the moment Trump became President. According to that brilliant foreclosure fraudster Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, "Right, as soon as the president got elected they went the other way." The reality, of course, is that China hasn't been manipulating its currency for years and actually is currently fighting to keep the renminbi from depreciating.

You'll also note that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in this "herculean effort", which apparently has done "more than has been done in the whole history of U.S.-China relations on trade", about steel, aluminum, or auto parts which the Chinese have been accused of dumping on the US market. Nor are they any protections for other areas of US manufacturing that Trump claimed Chinese imports were decimating during the campaign.

For once Trump may have told the truth when he said we would all get tired of winning.