Opinion | How China’s rise is helping to unite America behind Donald Trump’s trade war
- Beijing’s decision to substantially revise a draft trade agreement and the veiled threat on supplies of rare earth metals have provoked Americans who believe Washington is making a fair request for market access and an end to tech theft
“Yo, good game, man. You were the best player on our team.” This is a common post-game taunt in American sports when one is shaking hands with an opponent. American football players sometimes don’t get it, which adds to its zing.
The next time US President Donald Trump meets his trade war opponent and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, he could try the line. In their “whose tariffs are bigger” contest, Xi’s actions over the past few weeks have helped Trump a lot.
These aren’t overarching, unifying issues to Americans like democracy and human rights are though, and Americans seem to be preparing to endure some economic pain to defend these principles, which they believe are the foundations of the US.
Some of Trump’s fiercest opponents have come out in the past few weeks backing him on the trade war, usually with some version of “I don’t like the guy, but I’m with him on this one”.
