Who the hell does this president think he is?
“Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing our companies HOME and making your products in the USA,” he tweeted, adding, “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them.”
(This tweet was not in the Pilot article, but everywhere else.)
“Ordered”? Really? By Trump?
He is more socialist than any candidate for office in decades. His tariffs are effectively controlling the means of production in addition to taxing Americans, particularly the lower incomes.
And now he is ordering them to do business the way he demands it.
And he is calling Powell, his own pick for the Fed, an enemy of America.
Does this man have a clue about what America is all about?
Fortunately our country is stronger than this fraud we somehow elected.
IMHO, as usual.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
RE: “‘Ordered’? Really? By Trump?”
Why not? As president he has the power to halt imports. Ordering importers to find alternatives to China is not nearly as draconian as embargoing the imports themselves.
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OK, you know he can’t really do that, and I know it, but do you think that Xi knows it? Or believes it?
Xi is an authoritarian and certainly would think Trump can make that happen, and that doubt can be an effective negotiating position.
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Xi is not Saddam Hussein.
To assume he doesn’t know our system is really a stretch. Plus you can be sure that Xi knows what an empty threat that is considering the decades of building supply chains, support systems and trade policies.
What could have been if we stayed in TPP and negotiated with dozens of nations against China. But that was an Obama construct and Trump’s ego is more important than our country.
IMHO
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So, you think XI is some sort of dunce like Trump? Not any evidence of that is there?
Are you not embarrassed at the effort it takes to continue to support this sick old man? No self respect left?
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I think Xi doesn’t really know how much weight Trump’s statement carries with US business and he can’t afford to be wrong.
I am not saying I am convinced that this is a GOOD negotiating strategy, I don’t like tariffs, but I do think that a lot of what Trump says is for show to build a negotiating position.
Trump also knows he can’t order businesses to come home. But with China’s stated need to maintain 6% GDP growth and its demographic problems, their negotiating position is not as strong as people think, so this may well put more pressure on Xi to come to the table. Tariffs are bad for China too.
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How long are people like you going to continue deluding yourselves that there is any kind of mind at work when it comes to Trump? At best he thinks he can bully other countries the same way he bullied Mom and Pop contractors as a “businessman” and even THAT is giving him the benefit of the doubt. Based on all the evidence, Occam’s razor says that he is kind of dumb, profoundly ignorant and rapidly becoming demented.
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“you know he can’t really do that, and I know it”
The real question is; does The Donald know it?
His increasingly unhinged raving lead me to suspect he does not.
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He has the power to stop imports?
And how does that happen?
Besides the incredible costs to our businesses of completely and immediately setting up new supply chains and manufacturing processes, his dictatorial mandate is about as un-American as anyone can get.
Trump is panicking because his trade war is dragging the US and the world economy down. And Xi is not buckling. He is answering in spades.
The president is just setting up scapegoats. Companies that won’t or can’t obey his commands and Powell is the latest enemy of America.
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RE: “He has the power to stop imports?
And how does that happen?”
The implied powers of the Executive (Article 2) are broad and substantive, and certainly apply to international trade. The specific powers of the Executive over trade are contained within the cabinet-level departments of State, Commerce, Treasury, Defense and their subsidiary bureaus (e.g., Customs and the IRS).
Thus, the president’s “order” to U.S. businesses may not be enforceable in a technical sense (de jure), but it is not without teeth in practice (de facto). An historical precedent for it might be our long-standing trade embargo with Cuba.
The president may be making a mistake, but his “order” is clearly within his rights to make.
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Essentially you are saying he can slap more tariffs or enact total embargoes.
That should just about be the death knell of his reign.
Trump’s public airing and ranting about the trade war with Xi is overlooking the simple fact that Xi also has to save face and has political realities. Trump is not giving him any room to do that. Nor for himself either.
This is not a private real estate transaction where threats and posturing might work against a weaker opponent.
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Bully “mode” is ALL he knows. Alas, this will not end well…
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The funny thing is, Trump thinks he has command of the economy while his followers and apologists are constantly accusing anyone to their left of trying to implement Stalinism. Now when the Chosen One alludes to a command economy, it’s good and he’s right to do it. You love to see it.
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