Reuters published a story on September 30 with the good news that China has begun cutting some of its tariffs. Although this is quite good news there is a mystery as to why China decided to make those cuts since until recently a trade war with the United States had been threatened.
Is there anybody responsible for this shift in trade policy? And who would that be? You can search all you want but you won't find the identify of that Invisible Man in "China to cut import tariffs on wide range of products."
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will cut import tariffs on textile products and metals, including steel products, to 8.4 percent from 11.5 percent, effective Nov. 1, the finance ministry said on Sunday.
Beijing has pledged to take steps to increase imports this year amid rising tension with some of its biggest trade partners, such as the United States.
And that is as close as Reuters gets to giving the reason for their change in policy. Of course, no Invisible Man appearances here.
China’s cabinet has announced plans to cut tariffs on machinery, electrical equipment and textile products beginning on Nov. 1, as the country braces for an escalating trade war with the United States.
It sounds like China is yielding ground before the trade war even begins. And we still don't even know who brought about this result. For that we have to jump back almost two weeks before this article was published to September 17 where the person is identified when it looked like we would be facing a trade apocalypse. Yes, he is named as well as blamed, oh how he is blamed, in "China says Trump forces its hand, will retaliate against new U.S. tariffs."
BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday that it had no choice but to retaliate against new U.S. trade tariffs, raising the risk that U.S. President Donald Trump could soon impose duties on virtually all of the Chinese goods that America buys.
The Chinese commerce ministry’s statement came hours after Trump said he was imposing 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of imports from China, and threatened duties on about $267 billion more if China retaliated against the U.S. action.
So when it looked like there would be retaliation it was Trump but when it later became conciliation he became the Invisible Man in Reuters world. Finally some Sturm und Drang encores in which the Invisible Man of less than two weeks later is fully identified:
“President Trump is a hard-hitting businessman, and he tries to put pressure on China so he can get concessions from our negotiations. I think that kind of tactic is not going to work with China,” Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of China’s securities regulator, said at a conference in the port city of Tianjin.
...“President Trump’s decision ... is reckless and will create lasting harm to communities across the country,” said Dean Garfield, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents major tech firms.
