Trump’s Perpetually Drowsy Trade Czar is Having Trouble Making FriendsAt the start of this week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was likely full of hope. Despite the fact that his stock in the White House had plummeted, and he’d gone from one of Donald Trump’s favorite Cabinet members to being humiliated in front of his colleagues in the Oval Office, the former investment manager had been granted permission to participate in trade talks in China, after previously having the president tell him “your understanding of trade is terrible.” With the upcoming negotiations, scheduled to begin on Saturday, Ross, who’s had trouble staying awake during meetings of late, presumably saw an opportunity to win Trump back, and return to those happy days when the president was calling him a “killer” instead of reaming him out and questioning his “intelligence and competence.” Unfortunately for ole Wilbur, his planned comeback has hit a giant orange roadblock.
The Wall Street Journal reports that thanks to Trump’s surprise decision to move ahead with tariffs on Chinese imports roughly one week after suspending them, this weekend’s settlement talks might not happen. Beijing, caught off guard by the 180 from Washington, is said to be understandably pissed about being jerked around by Team Trump, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saying on Wednesday, “Every flip-flop and U-turn is simply depleting and squandering [U.S.] credibility.” Though Lester Ross, head of the policy committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (and no relation to Wilbur) characterized the announcement as simply a “negotiating step,” critics in Beijing believe Trump’s dealmaking tactics are getting old, and fast. “Trump overplayed this ‘unpredictability’ strategy,” Mei Xinyu, an analyst at a think tank affiliated with China’s Commerce Ministry, wrote in an article for People’s Daily. “Since the U.S. side can talk about imposing tariffs again, we can also put forward our previously published retaliation lists,” Mei added, suggesting that China hit back with tariffs on soybeans, sorghum, and other goods produced by farmers in Trump country.