CHINA/ECONOMY/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is pushing his bitter trade war with China into an aggressive and unpredictable new phase, bewildering Wall Street and risking an even bigger slowdown heading into a 2020 election in which the economy was supposed to be the president’s strongest selling point. The Trump administration on Monday [8-5-19] evening drove the stand-off with the world’s second-largest economy to a new level, officially labeling China a currency manipulator for the first time in a quarter century, enraging Beijing and inviting further retaliation in a bare-knuckled fight that has already slammed U.S. farmers and helped drive American manufacturing close — or into — recession. Following a precipitous stock-market decline that started the week, investors on Tuesday [8-6-19] took a break after China intervened to keep its currency, the yuan, from plunging further.”
–Ben White, Adam Behsudi and Doug Palmer, “Trump’s China battle heads into the danger zone,” Politico, August 6, 2019 6:56 pm