Trump's Tariffs: Why Such a Half-Baked Policy?

The problem with Trump is an incapacity to act to any effect. He hasn't even built the goddam wall, or stopped the flood of illegal immigrants by other means.

Now Trump is imposing tariffs on China to punish China for stealing American industrial and military secrets, which obviously, won't stop China stealing American industrial and military secrets.

Why not?

Because the US is in an informational, technological and economic war with China for global supremacy. China ain't gonna give up just because Trump bans Huiwei phone gear, or sticks a tariff on imports of Chinese-made Christmas tree lights.

The only consequence of Trump's anti-China tariffs, if they stay, is to force global corporations in search of cheap labor, to move off-shore production from China to Bangladesh, Vietnam or a dozen other places. Meantime, the Chinese will have more Christmas tree lights for their own consumption. So who cares? What difference does it make?

If Trump actually wanted to rebuild America's industrial base, he should impose a tariff wall against every one, with the exception of Canada, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America: the condition being, of course, that those countries free to export to America tariff-free enter the same tariff ring-fence as America.

That way, US labor would be competing not with billions of low wage workers, but a manageable 400 million Latin Americans. Moreover, those Latin American competitors would have an incentive to purchase high-tech gear tariff-free from the US, rather than China or elsewhere beyond the tariff ring fence. A further benefit would be to raise the prosperity of Latin America, thereby reducing the inclination of millions of Latin Americans to migrate to North America.

Two other requirements for a sound US industrial policy are:

1. Anti-monopoly legislation that creates fierce competition within the protected Western Hemisphere market;

2. Negotiation with other high wage countries, including Japan, S. Korea, Australia, and the European nations, to bring them within the tariff protected trade zone.

None of this will get done, obviously. Instead, it looks as though we may be about to see the Mother-of-all wars for global hegemony against Iran.

Salisbury Terror Nerve Gas Attack: How We Know Putin Did It

Theresa May, House of Commons, March 12, 2017:

Re: The poisoning of Segei and Yulia Skirpal in Salisbury, England
Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations*; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

Mr. Speaker, there are therefore only two plausible explanations for what happened in Salisbury on the 4th of March.

Either this was a direct act by the Russian state against our country.

Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.

So folks, no actual evidence, but still it's best just to place your trust in the politicians who in your hearts you know do what’s absolutely best for you, like, for example, bringing on the next ME war, with potential for escalation to World War III.

The fact that the incident in Salisbury occurred days before the Russian Presidential election has of course nothing to do with it.

The fact that the incident in Salisbury occurred just a couple of months before Russia is to host the World cup has of course nothing to do with it.

The fact that the incident in Salisbury occurred in the months leading up to completion of the NordStream II gas line to deliver Russian natural gas to North Western Europe, a project that US interests still seek to block to the benefit of US exporters of liquefied natural gas, a surplus byproduct of oil fracking, has of course nothing to do with it.

The fact that Trump is gunning for a war on a Russia-backed Iran for which the incident in Salisbury may yet provide a pretext, is not to be thought of.

The fact that Putin has no reason to seek a war for which the incident in Salisbury could so readily serve as a pretext, at a time when Russia and China are still racing to surpass the US in arms both quantitatively and qualitatively, is of course irrelevant.

No, clearly, Putin decided that since now was the worst possible time to murder a Russian spy — a man already pardoned by the Russian state — using a terror weapon with Russia’s signature on it, on foreign soil, then this was, in fact, the best time since no one would believe the Russians to be that damn stupid. Trouble for Putin is that everyone is so damn stupid that they really do think the Russians are that damn stupid.

* May defends use of drones to kill British terrorists overseas

* Tracking US drone strikes and other covert actions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia

Related:

The Star: Canada’s Russia policy raises many questions (such as why expel diplomats in the complete absence of evidence of wrongdoing? Because it's all bollocks, that's why.)