As the media spells doom for the United States over the tariff war with China, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, announced that by 2026, most of the iPhone production will be moved from China to India. Cook said he wants to diversify, and he is also responding to the tariff war.
Unfortunately, the US won’t secure iPhone production, but India represents a significant improvement. Apple does plan to invest $500 billion in the US.
Also, Bloomberg reports that China is considering exempting tariffs on US chemicals, including ethane and medical equipment. Ethane is critical for China’s plastics industry, with few alternatives. An interruption to their ethane shipments would severely impact China’s plastics sector.
China might also waive tariffs on plane leases. China has already exempted some US imports from the 125% tariff.
Meanwhile, factories in China are closing down. The export orders have disappeared.
Neither the US nor China wants to be the first to call for a deal.
Dr. St. Onge said China is panicking:
Time Magazine interviewed President Trump and asked about China
TIME: If we still have high tariffs, whether it’s 20% or 30% or 50%, on foreign imports a year from now, will you consider that a victory?
Total victory.
Why so?
Because the country will be making a fortune. Look, that’s what China did to us. They charge us 100%. If you look at India—India charges 100-150%. If you look at Brazil, if you look at many, many countries, they charge—that’s how they survive. That’s how they got rich. Now, zero would be easy. Oh, zero would be easy, but zero, you wouldn’t have any companies coming in. They’re coming in because they don’t want to pay the tariffs. Remember this, there are no tariffs, if they make their product here. There are no tariffs, if they make their product here. There are no tariffs. This is a tremendous success. You just don’t know it yet, but this is a tremendous success what’s happening. We’re taking in billions and billions of dollars, money that we never took in before. We’re also, very importantly, because of that, because of the money we’re taking in, those companies are going to come back and they’re going to make their product here. They’re going to go back into North Carolina and start making furniture again. They’ve already started. In Mexico, many car plants that were under construction have stopped. They’re all coming into this country. We’re gonna, you’re gonna see car plants going at a level that you’ve never seen before.
…
The Treasury Secretary says this situation with China is unsustainable.
Oh I agree. You mean the way it is now?
Yes.
Or the way it was before I got here?
The current moment, too, he believes, is unsustainable.
Well, no, they won’t do any business here, because at 145% it’s going to be very rare that you see business.
But your conversations with Xi have made you feel like we’re moving towards a more productive—
Oh, there’s a number at which they will feel comfortable. Yeah. But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars from us. You can’t let them make $750 billion. See, that’s really what’s not sustainable when China makes a trillion dollars, or a trillion one, when we have almost $2 trillion worth of, I call it loss. Some people don’t, but a lot of it’s loss. I say, when you have a trade deficit of $2 trillion I consider that loss.
The stock market was back to over 40,000 today.
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Cripple China before its too late.
They are the enemy.
The whole thing makes me nervous. It’s too reminiscent of the politics and world events of the1930s and 1940s before our entrance into WW2.
In the 1930s Japan was busy expanding its empire across Asia. Much like what we see with the economic expansion of China across the globe. China’s economic rise was fueled by Corporate America union busting and greed. It was inevitable given the annual escalation of union labor costs and its impact on prices and competition.
Japan attacked the US in direct response to the oil blockade imposed by FDR and Japan’s desire to take the Philippines. Something similar we see with China’s desire to take Taiwan. Now with heavy US tariffs imposed on China there is an eerie similarity to the US oil blockade of Japan right before the attack on Pearl. If I didn’t know better I’d say these events are scripted decades in advance. The media and talking heads play with words and make light of the danger. As for me, I pray.