Taipei faces 20% levy as it worries Donald Trump is prioritising trade talks with Beijing

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/45325294

https://archive.is/XjUjC

Taiwan’s failure to secure a trade deal with Donald Trump before his August 1 deadline has deepened fears that Washington could water down security support for Taipei to smooth relations with Beijing.

Trump on Thursday imposed a 20 per cent tariff on imports from Taiwan. The levies are due to take effect next week.

  • panda_abyss@lemmy.caEnglish
    27·
    12 days ago

    I don’t think the US government has any sort of grand plan more coherent than one of Trumps oily McDonald’s shits anymore.

    • bassomitron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      12 days ago

      100%, this. Not even most of the P2025 ghouls really support Trump’s absurd obsession with tariffs. But it’s the only real weapon he has to threaten countries with that don’t bow down to him. It’s why I’m surprised the billionaires-- I mean Congress–haven’t taken away this toy from him yet, since a fucked US economy will hurt their bottomline eventually.

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        5·
        12 days ago

        since a fucked US economy will hurt their bottomline eventually.

        No it won’t. Dollars are just a useful transfer tool for them. Their wealth is in assets. And when the US crashes, assets become cheap. So cheap they can buy the vast majority of them and rug pull everyone.

    • BetaBlake@lemmy.worldEnglish
      72·
      12 days ago

      Oh you should complain no matter how you feel. A Chinese or Russian hegemonic power is not a good thing for anyone, people can’t be that naive

        • Impound4017@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          22·
          12 days ago

          Surprise! The world is complex and all three can be not good for anyone, with room for more bad actors besides. Plus, while China isn’t at war with anyone (and hasn’t, as you said, been at war for fifty years), it doesn’t mean that they haven’t signaled their intention to take Taiwan - militarily, if needed, nor that they aren’t abhorrent in just the same way their international peers are (See: Uyghurs, the Chinese surveillance state, excessive force response to protests, etc.). This isn’t a defense of the US, but rather to say that acknowledging the shortcomings of China and Russia (which frankly should not be in the same category as the US and China) is not a way of blaming them for the shortcomings of the US, it’s just being realistic.

            • Impound4017@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              31·
              11 days ago

              If you believe I am “both-sidesing” this, then you have missed the point. I’m not going to defend the actions of the US because, frankly, they are indefensible, but that doesn’t mean that China or Russia as regional hegemons would be a good outcome either, because their actions are also indefensible. I’m advocating for Taiwanese autonomy here, because their right to self-determination is something that is worth preserving, just as is the case for any self-governing nation.

                • Impound4017@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  11·
                  11 days ago

                  Uhh… yeah. I know? That’s why I said the US’s actions are indefensible? I feel like you’re shadowboxing a point that I’ve never made here lol