In Trade Actions, Trump Embraces Unpredictability
- 7 years ago
In Trade Actions, Trump Embraces Unpredictability
In a speech delivered earlier this month in Washington, Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade
representative, called China “a threat to the world trading system that is unprecedented.”
Faced with such an enemy, one might imagine the United States would gather allies in a concerted effort to contain China’s mercantilist ambitions.
The decision on the Canadian airplane maker, Bombardier, may imperil a deal on which Mr. Trump has broadcast conflicting
intentions — the North American Free Trade Agreement, the landmark pact spanning Canada, the United States and Mexico.
If the decision is ultimately affirmed by the International Trade Commission — a quasi-independent judicial agency —
that would leave in place tariffs as much as 219 percent on sales of some Bombardier planes in the United States.
He accused China of pushing down the value of its money to make its goods unfairly cheap on world
markets — even as China was in fact doing the opposite, intervening to prop up its currency.
In a speech delivered earlier this month in Washington, Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States trade
representative, called China “a threat to the world trading system that is unprecedented.”
Faced with such an enemy, one might imagine the United States would gather allies in a concerted effort to contain China’s mercantilist ambitions.
The decision on the Canadian airplane maker, Bombardier, may imperil a deal on which Mr. Trump has broadcast conflicting
intentions — the North American Free Trade Agreement, the landmark pact spanning Canada, the United States and Mexico.
If the decision is ultimately affirmed by the International Trade Commission — a quasi-independent judicial agency —
that would leave in place tariffs as much as 219 percent on sales of some Bombardier planes in the United States.
He accused China of pushing down the value of its money to make its goods unfairly cheap on world
markets — even as China was in fact doing the opposite, intervening to prop up its currency.