>>>The phrase "trade war" is hyperbole.
>>>If I reduce my prices to put a competitor out of business - that's competition, not a trade war.
>>>China has been cleaning our clocks by not allowing US products into their markets.
>
>Trump regularly offers all foreign nations perfect "free trade" meaning everybody drops all their tariffs and subsidies. So far only one small nation indicates willingness to take him up on it; the major trading partners seem to think fair trade means they get to keep all their own tariffs and subsidies while it's evil for the US to have any or to resent the resulting blue collar unemployment and massive trade deficits. That tells you who's actually waging a trade war if it's important to insist there is one. Yet again I perceive the modern habit of crying out in pain while striking at the opponent.

I am with you on the question of tariffs - I think they should be zeroed. I am also with Trump pointing out that Germany is not paying its fair share of military cost (I think I wrote something along those lines to Marcia when Obama was still prez...).

But with Trump arguments you have to be careful. I personally dislike him always harking about Trade inequalities - Trade and Services for me is the better arena. There is not only Hollywood and a certain valley near Frisco but on east cost there is a lot of funny and stupid money harvested. I certainly do not believe he is the master negotiator and biz wonder he tries to sell to the public, but he has a knack of identifying areas and groups where such tactics work.

And when talking about attempting to dominate, US missionary zeal in judicial area is not really benevolent: from Patriot and Cloud act over IP law to other attempts to make US system the globally accepted yard stick.

US system HAS some benefits over other judicial systems, but IMO a better system would boast benefits of the system and not try to establish the bad parts of each system.

my .22 cents (currency not really important here)

thomas