AUGUST 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 53
CHINA TRADE, TARIFFS, AND “SAVING FACE”
BY THOMAS J. KEHOE
No president in our lifetime has had
the courage to take on China and the
trade issue like Donald Trump.
President Trump is arguably the
most successful businessman to be
elected president in our lifetime as
well. The style that propelled him to
the White House and to success on TV
is the same style he uses today.
For example, President Trump decided
to tell Mexico’s President Andrés
Manuel López Obredor that the U.S.
border to Mexican goods would close
unless Mexico helped with the vast
Central American migration to the
U.S. that had to cross Mexico to get
here. Key Congressional leaders
publicly said that President Trump
shouldn’t couple the two issues, trade
and immigration. Trump said why
not, they are related, and quickly
Mexico became part of the solution
and the decline in border crossings
corroborates this.
The thorny trade issue is another area
that the president unconventionally
attacks. The Osaka G20
Summit in June produced
a framework for major
trade concessions for
both the U.S. and China,
however, it appears that
more recent meetings in
Shanghai, attended by
U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer
and Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin, show
the world that talks have
cooled off. This week both
sides have thrown down
the gauntlet and tensions
have escalated.
The U.S.-China trade war has made economic waves felt
around the world. (Getty Images)
China’s President Xi Jinping operates
under a significantly different governmental
and societal framework
than President Tump. Trump’s every
move is criticized and scrutinized by
the media and the opposition. Xi is the
closest thing to a king that we might
be able to understand or compare him
to. President Xi has to answer to no
one but the Communist Party leaders,
who by the way, owe their health and
wealth to Xi.
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While President Trump epitomizes a
heavyweight who is constantly counterpunching,
Xi must save face, and
to a leader in China, this is probably
more important than a trade deal.
The Eastern Mind looks at things long
term, where the Western Mind wants
something now. Face to Xi, saving
face, keeping face, and giving face,
are concepts unknown to the U.S.,
and they deal more with China’s never
wanting to be Western dominated
like they were 200 years ago.
President Trump also
is used to results, from
his years in business
and because he (like
many Americans) has
a Western Mind. In
dealing with President
Xi, President Trump
had to also be thinking
about Xi’s Eastern
Mind and face.
So, here we are! Two
economic powerhouses,
led by two alpha
males, one elected and
one appointed by the
Communist Party, one
Western Mind and one Eastern Mind.
Face and the counterpuncher.
Hopefully, the effects of this negotiated
trade deal will benefit all of the
country by leveling the playing field
for all tariffs. Stay tuned.
Thomas J. Kehoe is CEO of Kingsbridge
Strategies,Inc. and Trade
Advisor to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
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