February 2018
Masochism on a Grand Scale
Why does our dear Uncle Sam keep shooting himself in the foot? He may be a member of the NRA, but the erratic behavior of the last several months will put him in the emergency ward if he continues. Unfortunately the apprentices are in charge of his care at the moment and the real doctors won’t arrive until November. Even then, remedies will take some time to heal the self-inflicted wounds.
The latest puzzling move has us on the brink of a trade war with our major trading partners. According to the Great Negotiator we are being ripped off by the world, but other than China the facts don’t seem to support that contention.
The table below clearly shows that the focus should be on China. Historic relationships with trade partners may need tweaking, not foolish showmanship to distract or otherwise impress.
United States |
||||
Major Trading Partners |
% of Exports |
% of Imports |
Net |
Combined |
| Canada | 14.5% | 11.6% | 2.9% | 26.1% |
| Mexico | 11.9% | 12.0% | -0.1% | 23.9% |
| China | 7.7% | 17.7% | -10.0% | 25.4% |
| UK | 5.5% | 3.9% | 1.6% | 9.4% |
| Japan | 4.9% | 6.1% | -1.2% | 11.0% |
| Germany | 3.7% | 5.5% | -1.8% | 9.2% |
| Total | 48.2% | 56.8% | -8.6% | |
Bureau of Economic Analysis: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services
This hurts all of us with China and Russia benefitting immensely from our missteps. Russia may not be able to catch up with the U.S. economy, but it could do the next best thing which would be to clip our wings on the international scene. A diminished U.S. economy would follow perhaps?