Is China Launching a Trade War?

Today's report that China has added additional tariffs to US automaker SUVs and midsize and large cars suggests that they certainly are. The new tariffs, which add up to nearly 22 percent of the import prices, are a slap in the face to both American automakers and the Obama Administration. They also make a joke of the so-called "free trade" policies that have been pursued by the last handful of American administrations. China already is one of the worst offenders of one-sided trading rules, and these new tariffs today are just another in a long list of offenses. You can just look at the impact. These tariffs, despite their size, are unlikely to have much effect on the marketplace in China. Why? Because the Chinese government has already made it almost impossible for American companies to sell their goods in China. Other tariffs and current taxes limit the sale of American imports in China by raising the retail price of American cars by about three times what the same cars and S.U.V.'s sell for in the United States. Meanwhile, China exports its crappy, dangerous, and sometimes deadly products here all the time. Apparently, we call that "free trade" — they sell whatever they want here, at whatever low, dumping price they want, while we cannot sell our goods there without facing massive tariffs and taxes. “We are very disappointed in this action by China,” said Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative. “We will be discussing this latest action with both our stakeholders and Congress to determine the best course going forward.” Yeah, no kidding, Carol. It'd be nice if, for once, we had an administration that told China to get bent. Between their ridiculous trade policies that force their goods into our marketplace, and their currency manipulation, China is already engaged in a trade war with the United States. Unfortunately, we're too puritanically attached to this self-defeating notion of "free trade" that we don't even notice, or care to call out, that the Chinese are cheating. We're so mesmerized by the game theory that shows free trade is a winner for everyone that we ignore blatant evidence (lowered standard of living at home, manufacturing jobs that go overseas) and we just take it. We bend right over and let the Chinese do as they please, and then thank them for the right to participate in their economy. We're like pacifists who get punched in the face over and over and over and never once stop to think that maybe, just maybe, "turn the other cheek" should get swapped out for "kick the other ass". Given the trade imbalances between our nations, and given that we could easily walk away from trillions in debt we owe to the little commies, perhaps it's time America grew a pair and slapped major import restrictions on every good coming from China. Sure, it'd mean no more $1 bath towels at Walmart

or China-Mart or whatever you want to call it. But it'd also put a stop, quickly, to these aggressive moves by the Chinese government to dictate the rules of the trading game.