Comment by addicted | Hacker News Reader

Comment by addicted | Hacker News Reader

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Well yeah since the tariff wars started. This article has a good explanation of what they have been doing.

https://thefederalist.com/2017/07/03/china-secretly-manipula...

China was keen on strengthening the yuan and were doing that for a couple of years, but the trade wars have shifted their calculations. The earlier strengthening gives them some additional leeway.

I think the reason for this drop in the exchanges is because letting the yuan drop is China’s way of saying they’re in for a fight. A stable yuan was basically a precondition for trade talks, and this coming right after the last round means the hope for a resolution seems remote at best.

I still don’t understand how China expects to win the trade war. The US has a lot more firepower. But I guess leadership incentives are not aligned with the country and it’s peoples incentives (which is true in the US as well).

What is winning the war mean in this case? Because the producers in the US, such as soy bean farmers, are not winning anything. Consumers and producers generally don't seem to win trade wars. Especially when tariffs come into play.

Good point. There is no winning in this war.

I’d say I’m definining “winning” at this point as preventing further damage.

The final prize in this war is who gets to write the rules of the world order, who gets to become/remain the hegemony. Economics/trade is just one battleground of many.

Soybeans are so inconsequential to this, in the larger picture of things. Sure, it sucks for farmers.

Would you rather have rich soybean farmers and a social credit score assigned to you personally for posting your opinions openly?

I feel like you're offering a false choice. The point of the tariffs is to punish China for a trade deficit and make companies produce things more in the United States according to this administration. Companies aren't changing things as a result of these tariffs as far as I can tell. So currently, consumers and producers are being punished and the administration isn't getting what it wants either. I just struggle to see the point. Personally I think it's more of an anti-globalist segment of the administration, as a trade deficit isn't necessarily a bad thing.

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