US and China suspend tariffs

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a tariff suspension on sixty billion dollars of goods, including toys and Christmas ornaments.

The timing may miss this holiday

Retailers ship winter holiday goods months in advance, so the tariff cuts may arrive too late to lower this year's prices.

A partial de-escalation

Last year tariffs on Chinese goods hit one hundred forty-five percent. The new deal doesn't address rare earth minerals or advanced chips, and China kept soybean tariffs.

Trump's reversal on China

Trump built his political identity on confronting China. Now he is returning to the traditional Republican position that free trade with China benefits American consumers and businesses.

The history of US-China trade

President Richard Nixon visited Beijing fifty-four years ago. George W. Bush said greater trade would bring great benefits to all peoples when China joined the World Trade Organization in two thousand one.

“great benefits…to all our peoples”

The cost to American workers

Consumer prices fell in the early two thousands as US-China trade exploded. But manufacturing towns suffered severe job losses that some communities still haven't recovered from.

How China losses elected Trump

Communities hit hardest by Chinese competition elected extreme Congressional candidates in twenty ten, then swung hardest to Trump in twenty sixteen. One study found Clinton would have won without the trade damage.

Will voters credit the reversal?

Trump tapped into real harms when he confronted China. Now he is reversing course, possibly to address inflation and living costs. The question is whether voters will credit him for solving a problem he created.