China’s financial center: Pudong, Shanghai

Trump Could Be Doing China A Favor…

The President could still win his trade war. But he could also be helping accelerate China’s transition from the world’s low-cost producer to its greatest modern-day economic powerhouse.

Trump turns up the heat on China in the past week by:

1. Pledging to tax virtually all imports from China at least 10% beginning next month (before the next round of trade talks with China is scheduled to begin)
2. Having his Treasury Secretary officially declare China a “currency manipulator” (which has no real immediate impact, but does initiate a formal complaint with the International Monetary Fund)
3. And in a not totally but somewhat related move, just now formally banning U.S. government agencies from doing business with Huawei and other China tech companies, citing a fear of theft of trade secrets and other sensitive information. (That ban goes into effect next week.)

The President’s right about a lot of things when it comes to China: especially that its companies steal intellectual property with abandon, and when the government’s made agreements in the past to stop it, it hasn’t.