CHINA/ECONOMY/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump threatened over the weekend to re-escalate his trade war with China by raising tariffs on nearly all Chinese imports. He implied that the move would not hurt the American economy and said that the tariffs he has already imposed ‘are partially responsible for our great economic results’ in the United States. Almost no evidence supports his claims. Mr. Trump’s advisers expanded the argument on Monday [5-6-19], saying that the 3.2 percent economic growth recorded in the first quarter of this year — including a positive contribution from exports — is proof that the president’s hard-line trade policies are helping the economy…Technically speaking, the secretary is right: Net exports added to growth in the first quarter, according to the preliminary number the Commerce Department released last month. But that is not an indication that tariffs are helping the economy over all. The fact that Mr. Trump and his team appear to believe otherwise could be a smart negotiating tactic with China — it could give credence to the idea that they are prepared to escalate the trade war further if their demands are not met.”
–Jim Tankersley, “Are Trump’s Tariffs Bolstering the U.S. Economy? Nope,” The New York Times online, May 7, 2019