Tag: China

China Socks It to Trump with New Tariffs

Buck Banks

$75 billion

“China announced that it will impose additional tariffs on a total of $75 billion of U.S. goods in retaliation for President Trump’s latest planned levies on Chinese imports,” Bloomberg reports. “Some of the countermeasures will take effect starting Sept. 1, while the rest will come into effect from Dec. 15, according to the announcement from the Ministry of Commerce. This mirrors the timetable the U.S. has laid out for 10% tariffs on nearly $300 billion of Chinese shipments.”

More than Half of Price of ‘Made in China’ Products Goes to U.S. Workers, Businesses

Buck Banks

56%

About 56 percent of what you pay for something “made in China” goes to U.S. workers and companies, on average, according to a new analysis released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Washington Post reports. The rules are complicated, but “made in China” roughly indicates a good was assembled in a Chinese factory. Its parts, design, marketing and distribution may have come from anywhere — and that “anywhere” is often the United States.

Ivanka Trump Gets China Trademark Approval for Voting Booths

Buck Banks

Reuters reported today that China has issued 16 trademarks for President Trump’s daughter Ivanka in the past two months — including one for voting machines!

The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington made the findings about the new China trademarks in a Monday statement, and said it was the largest number of new Chinese trademarks her company has received in a single month since her father took office.

The latest China trademarks cover things like shoes and jewelry, but also more offbeat items like voting machines and nursing homes, according to a search of records on the Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce’s Trademark office.

The trademarks were applied for in 2016.

Which got me thinking, what would an ad campaign for a Trump-branded voting booth look like, which inspired me to write a little advertising copy:

Voiceover: Deep female voice with indistinct Eastern European accent

Welcome to the IvankaBooth!

Snuggle into your own private political space where it’s just you and the last dog whistle or overt racist remark echoing in your head.

Settle into your plush, golden surroundings and focus on which vote suppressor or media attacker you’re casting your ballot for in the intimate confines of your IvankaBooth, where it’s just you and God and your uneducated, uninformed, misinformed and misogynistic beliefs in the pursuit of your inalienable right to vote for the demagogue of your choice.

IvankaBooth — it’s where YOU make history happen!

(Made in China. Patent pending)

Trump Imposes Another $200 in Tariffs on China

Buck Banks

$200 million

“President Trump, emboldened by America’s economic strength and China’s slowdown, escalated his trade war on Monday, saying the United States would impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods as punishment over Beijing’s trade practices,” the New York Times reports. “The fresh round of tariffs comes on top of $50 billion worth of Chinese products already taxed earlier this year, meaning nearly half of all Chinese imports into the United States will soon face tariffs.”

China Grants Trump 38 Trademarks

Buck Banks

38

“China has granted preliminary approval for 38 new Trump trademarks, paving the way for President Donald Trump and his family to develop a host of branded businesses from hotels to insurance to bodyguard and escort services,” the AP reports. “If President Trump receives any special treatment in securing trademark rights, it would violate the U.S. Constitution, which bans public servants from accepting anything of value from foreign governments unless approved by Congress, ethics lawyers from across the political spectrum say. Concerns about potential conflicts of interest are particularly sharp in China, where the courts and bureaucracy are designed to reflect the will of the ruling Communist Party.”

Plurality of Americans Pessimistic About U.S.-China Relations Under Trump

Buck Banks

47%

Of Americans expect U.S.-China relations to deteriorate under the Trump administration, according to a YouGov poll from December. Just 19% expect them to improve, while 17% expect them to remain the same. The same poll asked if it was more important to punish China or maintain good relations, and 59% of respondents said maintaining good relations and only 13% wanted to punish China.

International Diplomacy, Trump-Style: ‘Screw ‘Em’

Buck Banks

Taiwan is our ally. That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We oughta back our ally, and if China doesn’t like it, screw ’em.

— Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Donald Trump, defending the President-elect’s recent call with the president of Taiwan, saying in a local radio interview that he didn’t care if it upset China,” CNN reports.