3 ms·

> These days China produces an absolute majority of the world’s steel, many individual products like port cranes are solely manufactured in China, Shenzhen is a

> These days China produces an absolute majority of the world’s steel, many individual products like port cranes are solely manufactured in China, Shenzhen is an indispensable center of economic activity to a probably higher degree than even Silicon Valley, and the Belt-and-Road initiative is establishing Chinese soft power throughout the most rapidly growing parts of the world. > At the same time, this is a regime that deals with ethnic and religious tensions by throwing people into concentration camps and brainwashing them into the majority culture, as they are doing with the Uyghurs today. Has that resulted in any consequences for them? This is why I'm for the trade war, and frankly any action that decouples the Chinese economy from more of the world's. It turns out it was a lie that trade brings liberalization, the truth is trade actually protects authoritarians from being held to account (if they're big enough).

philwelch 7y ago
I am too, but like you, for entirely different reasons than Trump is pitching it. I borrowed a heat gun from a friend once, and he gave me a safety brief that could be summarized as, “The important part of the term ‘heat gun’ is the word ‘gun’. Do not point this at something you’re not serious about using it on. It will melt your eyeballs.” Analogously, the important part of the term “trade war” is the word “war”. We will damage our own economy and our own standard of living if we continue to carry out this trade war on China. We will pay a heavy price. Even if the Rust Belt is once again capable of producing the steel that we are no longer importing from China, we will come out of this a poorer country than we would otherwise. It’s a price worth paying, but we should be under no illusions about such an endeavor providing any net economic benefit.

philwelch 7y ago

I am too, but like you, for entirely different reasons than Trump is pitching it. I borrowed a heat gun from a friend once, and he gave me a safety brief that could be summarized as, “The important part of the term ‘heat gun’ is the word ‘gun’. Do not point this at something you’re not serious about using it on. It will melt your eyeballs.” Analogously, the important part of the term “trade war” is the word “war”. We will damage our own economy and our own standard of living if we continue to carry out this trade war on China. We will pay a heavy price. Even if the Rust Belt is once again capable of producing the steel that we are no longer importing from China, we will come out of this a poorer country than we would otherwise. It’s a price worth paying, but we should be under no illusions about such an endeavor providing any net economic benefit.