Chris Christie Is Right, Trump's Trade War Accomplished Nothing

[planosteve]

Nikki Haley says "Trump was good on trade." What?

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a strong point at tonight's GOP presidential debate by criticizing former President Donald Trump's trade policies.

"You can't say he was good on trade," Christie said, directly rebutting a comment former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had made earlier in the evening. "He didn't change one Chinese policy in the process. He failed on it."

"All he did was impose tariffs, which raise the prices for every American," Christie added.

Trump's presidency overturned decades of a generally pro-trade Republican consensus and ushered in an era of assuming that trade is bad for American workers and consumers. He hiked tariffs on steel, aluminum, solar panels, washing machines, and a wide range of Chinese goods. For Trump and his allies, those higher tariffs—which were directly paid by American importers and consumers—were meant to reconfigure the trading relationship between America and China.

But Christie is exactly right. It failed.

The one material thing Trump's trade war accomplished was a so-called "phase one" trade deal with China, which he signed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to much fanfare in December 2019. That deal included a promise that China would buy $200 million more American exports annually. Those increased purchases were supposed to be spread across multiple sectors of the American export economy, something Trump promised would provide much-needed relief to farmers, manufacturers, and other businesses harmed by the tariffs he'd imposed since taking office.

China didn't do that. According to an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, American exports to China didn't even reach pre-trade-war levels in the first year that "deal" was in place. Both countries seem to have quietly dropped any pretense of following through on the agreement.

It's certainly true that the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted global supply chains in ways that couldn't be foreseen when Trump and Xi signed that deal, played a role in that outcome. But the idea that China could be cajoled into buying more American goods—as if it is nations that trade with one another, as opposed to individuals living within those nations—was always misguided and made Trump's approach unlikely to succeed.

And the idea that piling tariffs—that is, taxes—on Americans would change China's behavior? That was never based in reality.

Similarly, Trump claimed that his policies would reduce America's trade deficit—the annual gap between imports and exports. But the trade deficit continued to rise while he was in office, and recently hit a new record high. (The good news is that a country's trade deficit doesn't really matter.)

During Trump's time in office, there was a sizable segment of Republicans who at least regularly called these claims into question. But they have largely left, or were driven out of the party, and the GOP candidates running for office this year seem to share Trump's skepticism about the value of foreign trade.

It was refreshing to hear Christie—though he is also likely on his way out of GOP politics—keep the flame of sensible Republican thinking on trade alive.

https://reason.com/2023/12/07/chris-chr ... d-nothing/

[GFB]

There are two more debates coming..in January.

Chris Christie will not be there. He won’t qualify.

[planosteve]

There are two more debates coming..in January.

Chris Christie will not be there. He won’t qualify.

Uh, OK. So, what does that have to do with whether Trump's trade war accomplished anything?

[GFB]

There are two more debates coming..in January.

Chris Christie will not be there. He won’t qualify.

Uh, OK. So, what does that have to do with whether Trump's trade war accomplished anything?

That’s not worth a discussion.

His trade policies worked so well, his principal political opponent..Joe Dementia..has quietly kept them all in place.

The much more important point is..a man who knows his own constituents hate and thoroughly reject him becomes desperate and lashes out.

Worse than that..the subject of his wrath and ire..President Trump..is being embraced like no other Republican has ever been embraced.

[planosteve]

There are two more debates coming..in January.

Chris Christie will not be there. He won’t qualify.

Uh, OK. So, what does that have to do with whether Trump's trade war accomplished anything?

That’s not worth a discussion.

His trade policies worked so well, his principal political opponent..Joe Dementia..has quietly kept them all in place.

The much more important point is..a man who knows his own constituents hate and thoroughly reject him becomes desperate and lashes out.

Worse than that..the subject of his wrath and ire..President Trump..is being embraced like no other Republican has ever been embraced.

You think that because Biden approved Trump's new tariffs (taxes) that's a good thing?

[GFB]

Uh, OK. So, what does that have to do with whether Trump's trade war accomplished anything?

That’s not worth a discussion.

His trade policies worked so well, his principal political opponent..Joe Dementia..has quietly kept them all in place.

The much more important point is..a man who knows his own constituents hate and thoroughly reject him becomes desperate and lashes out.

Worse than that..the subject of his wrath and ire..President Trump..is being embraced like no other Republican has ever been embraced.

You think that because Biden approved Trump's new tariffs (taxes) that's a good thing?

You bait, switch, and bait again.

I’m back to my original response..Chris Christie is toast, and he knows it.

That’s the only comment that needs to be made on this article.

[planosteve]

That’s not worth a discussion.

His trade policies worked so well, his principal political opponent..Joe Dementia..has quietly kept them all in place.

The much more important point is..a man who knows his own constituents hate and thoroughly reject him becomes desperate and lashes out.

Worse than that..the subject of his wrath and ire..President Trump..is being embraced like no other Republican has ever been embraced.

You think that because Biden approved Trump's new tariffs (taxes) that's a good thing?

You bait, switch, and bait again.

I’m back to my original response..Chris Christie is toast, and he knows it.

That’s the only comment that needs to be made on this article.

Talk about bait and switching! There you go again. This thread is about Trump's trade policies which increased prices of imported goods for all Americans, not Christie's chances to be the president.

[planosteve]

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s strong debate performance in Tuscaloosa, Ala., has given him a renewed reason to stay in the GOP presidential primary, even as his prospects for the nomination remain slim.

Christie fiercely criticized former President Trump at the Wednesday debate hosted by NewsNation. He landed attacks on the three rivals who appeared on stage and got in the most debate speaking time he has had so far, by CNN’s count.

But Republicans acknowledge the longer Christie stays in the race, the more he could divide the field and help the former president seal the GOP nomination.

“The better Christie performs, the more likely Trump will be the nominee of the party. It’s that simple because Christie will not be the nominee of the party,” said Republican strategist Justin Sayfie. “And the better he performs, the longer he will stay in the race. And the longer he stays in the race, the bigger advantage Trump has to win the nomination.”
The former two-term New Jersey governor remained a close ally of Trump throughout his presidency and helped prepare him for the 2020 presidential debates against now-President Biden.

But the two had a falling out in the aftermath of Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Christie entered the 2024 race positioning himself as a chief opponent of the former president.

Christie has repeatedly attacked Trump on the campaign trail and throughout the debates, accusing him in the second one of not attending because he was “afraid” to defend his record. He extended that line of attack to on-stage rivals Wednesday, saying they are afraid to criticize Trump.

While he once polled as high as second place in New Hampshire, Christie ranked third at best in the state recently and has stayed near the bottom of the pack in other states and nationwide.

Still, Christie appears likely to stay in the race into next year.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... c028b&ei=4

[Mark]

Chris Christie's polling is so low, he doesn't even appear on the graph...



https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... /national/

[planosteve]

Chris Christie's polling is so low, he doesn't even appear on the graph...



https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... /national/

Another switcharoo! Christie's polling is not the subject!

[Mark]

Chris Christie's polling is so low, he doesn't even appear on the graph...



https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... /national/

Another switcharoo! Christie's polling is not the subject!

You're asserting that what Chris Christie says is relevant. His polling says he is 100% irrelevant.

[planosteve]

Chris Christie's polling is so low, he doesn't even appear on the graph...



https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/po ... /national/

Another switcharoo! Christie's polling is not the subject!

You're asserting that what Chris Christie says is relevant. His polling says he is 100% irrelevant.

What polling says that?

[GFB]

Another switcharoo! Christie's polling is not the subject!

You're asserting that what Chris Christie says is relevant. His polling says he is 100% irrelevant.

What polling says that?

You should stay out of subjects of which you are ignorant .

[Mark]

You're asserting that what Chris Christie says is relevant. His polling says he is 100% irrelevant.

What polling says that?

You should stay out of subjects of which you are ignorant .

All of them?

[planosteve]

What polling says that?

You should stay out of subjects of which you are ignorant .

All of them?

Well, you could be right on this one. The trade war did accomplish making all Americans even poorer.

[Mark]

You should stay out of subjects of which you are ignorant .

All of them?

Well, you could be right on this one. The trade war did accomplish making all Americans even poorer.

Please try to keep up and quit babbling.

[planosteve]

All of them?

Well, you could be right on this one. The trade war did accomplish making all Americans even poorer.

Please try to keep up and quit babbling.

Once again. Please try to stay on subject: "This thread is about Trump's trade policies which increased prices of imported goods for all Americans, not Christie's chances to be the president."