६ जून, २०२१

"We should all declare within one unified voice that China must pay. They must pay. The United States should immediately take steps to phase in a firm 100% tariff on all goods made in China."

Said Trump, orating in North Carolina last night

He was holding China responsible for Covid19 and proposing a method — to be imposed now and without further investigation — for collecting what he called "reparations."

1 टिप्पणी:

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Alex writes:

Paul Ryan and the GOP establishment would try giving some esoteric speech about how tariffs only hurt us and we need free-trade with China even after all that they've done. Trump, on the other hand, seems to have a better political sense than that. People are angry about the past year, and this is a good start towards directing that anger and harnessing it for political gain. It's also a way to help cement Trump's influence over the party in the coming elections. Let's see how many times primary candidates get asked, "Do you support Trump's call for 100% tariffs on China?" as well as their responses.

Also, the use of "reparations" is a nice touch. With all the discussion about reparations in relation to slavery, a system which ended over a hundred and forty years ago, how can politicians call for paying reparations to blacks who may not even be descended from slaves, but can't muster the will to call for reparations to the hundreds of millions of people who were locked down, unemployed, terrified for over a year, not to mention hundreds of thousands of families who lost loved ones due to the virus?