Another view of Trump's trade war

Senior administration officials tell Axios that a trade deal with China isn't close and that the U.S. could be in for a long trade war.

A senior administration official said the differences between the two sides are so profound that, based on his read of the situation, he can't see the fight getting resolved before the end of the year.

Trump yesterday held out the possibility of meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 in Japan next month. That statement may have been made in part to calm the stock market, which yesterday had its worst day since January.

[...]

The question remains: Can Trump, facing a re-election race in 2020, outlast China's "president for life"?

Both Trump and Xi have to contend with hardliners in their parties. But only one of them can harness all the tools of authoritarianism.

  Axios

At the moment. The other one, who is steaming with envy, has two years to create and declare a national emergency that gets him another step closer to having those tools.

Trump’s mindset on the Chinese is simple: They only respond to shows of brute force.

And he thinks they’ll suffer more than America will, because they buy fewer products.

I don't believe I've heard that opinion on Trump's mindset expressed before. He's not saying that publicly at least.

I've asked several current and former administration officials whether Trump actually believes that China pays the tariffs — rather than the reality that U.S. importers and consumers do.

The consensus is "yes": That's what he actually believes.

And as one former aide said: There’s little point trying to persuade Trump otherwise, because his belief in tariffs is "like theology."

I wonder why.  Where did he come by that belief?  All I can imagine is that he sees tariffs as punishments and he loves to punish.  Come to think of it, that does sound like theology.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.