‘What keeps me up at night’: Trump’s trade czar explains hawkish moves on China
WASHINGTON — It was President Donald Trump who announced a broad trade offensive against China on Thursday, with wide-ranging tariffs, an international lawsuit and investment restrictions to combat alleged theft of Americans’ intellectual property.
It was his trade czar, however, who made the most elaborate argument for them.
Stocks were sent sputtering by the prospective clash of economic giants, trade wonks muttered that the American salvo lacked a planned exit strategy and China vowed retaliation over the threatened 25 per cent U.S. duty on high-tech products: “China would fight to the end … with all necessary measures.”
Meanwhile, Robert Lighthizer was testifying before Congress. A self-described curmudgeon, best known for his elbows-up negotiating style on NAFTA, Lighthizer confided that his biggest fear is far removed from issues involving Canada and Mexico.