In my opinion, here is a reason why “trade wars are good” for not only the USA but for the world.
It is the same method used 3000 years ago by King Solomon that may have helped prevent wars with his trade partners and nations surrounding ancient Israel. Peace prevailed in Israel during Solomon’s sixty-year reign.
Today’s political news pundits and media are now trumpeting disaster for USA farmers if China tariffs their farm products. However, there is a wise alternative for use of USA farm products if China no longer wants to import our farm products, in my opinion.
King Solomon
When your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. (Proverb 25:21)
“ ……when kindness is shown to an enemy, because it is undeserved, the action may awaken feelings of remorse. Bread and water have accomplished more power than the bitterest invective. His pain will be to experience your magnanimity and generous forgiveness and at the same time restore him as your brother.”
What’s My Point?
The Middle East, Africa, and even Venezuela political conflicts, weather, and wars have resulted in a temporary world food crisis and starvation for millions of refugees, many who continue to flee to Western Countries.
The USA is the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world. However, not only does the USA provide food, we also provide dollars and armaments and classify both as foreign aid. The reason for dollars is because it was decided in previous USA government administrations that it take too long for food to be sent to needy countries, so cash is sent instead so the countries in need to buy food supplies locally.
Since the USA now operates on a deficit budget, the USA has to borrow dollars to send to countries in need of food that we can grow and supply from USA farm products that China wants to tariff and the news media is alarming USA farmers.
If we take this issue a step further, perhaps if food is sent by all nations in need, instead of armaments, who knows, the conflicts and wars may be reduced. This statement is too lengthy to attempt to explain in a blog post.
My point is if China chooses to engage in a trade war, instead of doing the same thing they made all USA manufacturers do in order for USA products to be sold in China. That is to require any nation that wants to sell products in the China market, the nation must build plants and share technology to use Chinese labor to manufacture in China instead of their own nation.
All China needs to choose instead of a trade war, is build plants in the USA and use USA labor to balance out trade deficits instead of engaging in a trade war.
In Other Words
In my opinion, President Trump wants more of the present deficit trade dollars being accumulated by China to be spent in the USA to be used to grow the USA economy and infrastructure. China does not appear willing to reciprocate to build or buy USA products to balance trade deficits.
In the long term of time, the USA has plenty of options in our bucket to compensate for temporary replacement of China goods to be either resourced to countries willing to reciprocate to balance trade for both trade partners.
My point is all the news is just hype to alarm USA voters. There is no country in the world that is more self sufficient than the USA. Trump is right “trade wars are good” to balance and reciprocate trade deals with countries that want to reciprocate in a free and fair reciprocal way to benefit both trade partners.
Yes, in the short term, there may be temporary shortage issues of mainly consumer electronic gadgets and toys products in the USA. However, in the long term, deficit trade agreements have to be confronted and remedied rather than be continually pushed aside as in previous administrations
To date the total trade deficits, ever since Clinton negotiated the USA, China trade agreement, the trade deficits have result in over nine trillion dollars in deficit trade to the USA with China.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
Source Links
USA Foreign AID
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Health/us-food-aid-contributing-africas-hunger/story?id=8939151
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/which-countries-get-the-most-foreign-aid/
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-us-spend-its-foreign-aid
Previous Posts
https://rudymartinka.com/2014/04/26/king-solomon-on-foreign-aid/
https://rudymartinka.com/2015/08/03/king-solomons-horse-tanks/
Rudy u Martinka 
You said…
“The USA is the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world. However, not only does the USA provide food, we also provide dollars and armaments and classify both as foreign aid. The reason for dollars is because it was decided in previous USA government administrations that it take too long for food to be sent to needy countries, so cash is sent instead so the countries in need to buy food supplies locally.”
We may be the largest supplying foreign aid.. but it’s still far below 2% of our budget.
I have never heard of this “reason for dollars” logic, and where would people of needy countries buy food locally when the reason they are getting the aid is because they likely have little or no economy from which to purchase from? I don’t see anywhere this idea we send cash as foreign aid. Now, to assume it hasn’t been done in the past or that there is some special applications, would be illogical. But on any grand foreign aid program to just shell out cash..? I doubt it.
Consider this from Wiki…
“Most US foreign aid does not go other governments due to skepticism about corruption in other countries. There is a fear amongst the American people that foreign aid is funneled and used to increase the personal wealth of corrupt government leaders of foreign countries. However, about 85 percent of foreign aid goes to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and US-government contractors, meaning that most of foreign aid is not being given directly to foreign governments.”
For the sake of argument.. let’s assume your trade-wars-are-good theory works for the long term… we are not by nature a “long term” economy at any given point in our history. You’re going to sell to that poor hog farmer or soy farmer the idea that his short term economic suffering (and “short term” is not defined) will lead to prosperity later in life or when his kids are older? Trust me.. somebody in government is going to pay for that nonsense at the ballot box.
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@doug
Your comment
“I have never heard of this “reason for dollars” logic,”
The post has the source link to answer your concern..
As for your other comment “someone is gonna pay ….”
The USA has already paid nine trillion dollars in unbalanced trade to China ever since Clinton negotiated the original trade agreement.
If voters stop and use some “critical thinking” or “common sense” they would realize how many of today’s crumbling infrastructure and decrease of livable wages, and selling out of USA assets, including farmland and industries of their nation has resulted because of trade imbalances.
Liberals keep crying for money for more social benefits, think what nine trillion could have produced in the USA. Then think how in the future, USA interests on payment on the national debt now totals one third of USA budget
Wise or foolish, you decide by using your critical thinking method.
We need to use common sense too, in my opinion
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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I looked at all your links and when I did not see it I went elsewhere and never found a thing. I am old.. so maybe I missed it first time around. I’ll look again… but honestly, if I’ve looked elsewhere for any reference and found none one might question your source. But I will try again.
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@ doug
Critically thinking your statement of foreign aid is 2 Percent of USA budget,
According to this link it will be 55.1 billion
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/foreign-aid-victories-in-trumps-2018-budget/
Half of USA 14 billion exports of soybeans to China are already an issue according to this link.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-soybeans-china/half-of-u-s-soy-exports-to-china-would-fall-afoul-of-new-rules-idUSKBN1EL1LF
55 billion minus 14 billion equals 41 billion.
You said 2 percent of usa budget is foreign aid?
Regards and goodwill blogging.
s
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Well, one link there says it’s .5 of the US national budget.. I am guessing that’s your point? If so, yes.. I was quoting some 2012 or something 1.7%.. your .5 represents the here and now apparently.
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Doug, here is the link to your comment
”I looked at all your links ……..”
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Health/us-food-aid-contributing-africas-hunger/story?id=8939151U.S.
Food Aid Policies Are Expensive
If interested on how I wrote 18 posts in 2016 to try to explain to another California skeptic, Keith DeHavelle, a really bright guy who unfortunately I believe has passed away, on the issue of fair trade.
You being a California skeptic might enjoy his comments.
To read all 18 would take a lot of time and critical thoughts.
To access the posts, you would have to key in Q (question key on my blog} with the words… fair trade post one,…… then fair trade post two. etc.
Like I said if interested, you may get a better insight of why President Trump keeps saying Clinton’s trade negotiators were “stupid”
Here is the link to post one.
ttps://rudymartinhka.com/2016/08/11/king-solomon-donald-trump-fair-trade-post-one/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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Rudy.. no links in your last reply work. the ABC link says their page no longer exists.. and maybe your post link had bad syntax?
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You are right on my post missing the h in the beginning syntex.
Sorry, try this one
https://rudymartinka.com/2016/08/11/king-solomon-donald-trump-fair-trade-post-one/
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Rudy, my friend.. you’re trying to bait me into discourse on free trade. 🙂
My professional experience has been management.. and I have been an entrepreneur three times in my life.. a one-man carpet cleaning guy after the military when I lived in Rockford… then I jumped on the CB radio and car stereo craze in the late 70’s and had a retail store for about 5 years up in the stateline area (Beloit/South Beloit)… then I had a stint in corporate managment for the now defunct Aldens mailorder… then over to office supply mail order giant (now part of Staples), Quill Corp. up in Lincolnshire. After that I purchased a going data processing firm and turned that into a biz-to-biz business services company for 15 years. Moving to the Southwest led me into the funeral industry for five years.. and ran a funeral home. So while I have a very basic sense for international trade… I was never a purchasing agent of any large corporation that took me into trade deals. So I defer to your better experience on that. On the other hand… I have different experiences in business ownership, management, and the service, mailorder, and retail industries (too bad we never met earlier in our careers.. we’ve might’ve kicked some ass).
I was raised in a republican household up in all white Norwood Park.. up next to the airport… the old republican 41st Ward (old Daley made us fix our own potholes; gotta love Chicago politics). I’ve held the basic business notion of free trade, free competition, in a free market. Obviously globalization is the new “threat” to domestic economic tranquility.. or is it? Up until Trump came into the picture the country was on a great economic upswing and GNP was going great. The problem was… that left the red state folks from the manufacturing areas out of the picture. The country is prospering while a segment of the old middle class is floundering for a return of their $50/hr union jobs. So… with the country doing so well, and a segment of the middle class wanting the good old days back… Trump comes along to give them their good old days back. At what cost?
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doug
“Rudy, my friend.. you’re trying to bait me into discourse on free trade.
Only if you are interested Doug.
Most people in the USA have absolutely s no knowledge or interest of what the trade defecit is or how it harms them and the future of their Nation.
The politicians and special interest who profit on trade like it that way, in my opinion..
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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doug
doug
Critically thinking your poor hog farmer remark, doug,
Check out the links on my previous post and you will see the USA hog producer industry is owned mainly by foreign interests.
I wonder if China is shooting themselves in the foot by tariffs of their own hog farm profits.
Then again, China is not the same kind of free market economy as the USA. If they want ti import USA hogs and pay their own tariffs, all they would be doing is paying themselves anyway, yes?.
Regards and goodwill blogging
https://rudymartinka.com/2018/04/03/king-solomon-hog-farmers-vs-china-tariffs/
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I think you make the solid point that all this crap is too complicated for one person to understand.. much less a single person with Trump’s grossly lacking comprehension in things with that much detail.
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I like it, we’ve helped China become what it is today at a steep price and it was never free trade as some have asserted. Something needs to change, I believe this tariff war to be a negotiating tactic used by Trump and that things will smooth over quickly, China has more to lose than we do-All merely my opinion and derived from what I experience. Our Farm industry has been subsidized for quite a while we could easily expand that with more deficit spending while we’re at it
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