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Shades Off | Donald Trump deserves a Chinese state honour – for failing spectacularly to make America great again
- Despite Donald Trump’s tariff war, the US’ trade deficit with China rose to a record high last year, and the yuan has grown more popular as a reserve currency. Meanwhile, Americans are bearing the economic brunt of Trump’s policies
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Donald Trump wants to make America great again. It’s a pity his strategy is backfiring on him and it’s the country he has designated as a rival, China, that is benefiting.
In fact, things are worse than that – while Beijing steams ahead with cutting-edge technology, President Trump is turning the United States’ clock back to the 1980s with policies like reviving coal in the power market and reinvigorating the gas-guzzling motor industry.
Should there ever be a Chinese state honour for services to the nation by a foreigner, it’s obvious who has to be the first recipient.
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A deal still seems far off in talks to end the trade war that Trump started by slapping China with tariffs that were responded to in kind. Whether his complaints about unfair trade practices, currency manipulation, technology transfers and intellectual property theft will be dealt with is still uncertain.
What is obvious, though, is both that the trade gap persists despite the penalties, and that the yuan is increasingly popular as a reserve currency and a currency for business. If Trump’s aim is to put the brakes on China, it isn’t working.
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