'Economic illiteracy' caused US-China trade war
PUBLISHED SAT, MAR 23 2019 • 6:05 AM EDT
Yen Nee Lee
The trade war between the U.S. and China — which has threatened global growth — was a result of “economic illiteracy” on the part of President Donald Trump, according to an economics professor at Columbia University.
Trump has on many occasions said the trade imbalance between the U.S. and China is a sign that America is being “ripped off.” The president has made reducing that disparity one of his goals in the ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.
“The problem with the trade talks is that it’s all based on a false premise. The premise is that somehow China’s trade imbalance is because of unfair practices. This is the kind of economic illiteracy of the president of the United States,” Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, told CNBC’s Martin Soong on Saturday at the China Development Forum in Beijing.
“The whole trade war is premised on two false ideas: One is that China cheats ... the second idea is that China is a menace,” he added ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/23/trumps-economic-illiteracy-caused-us-china-trade-war-columbia-prof.html