“They’re all going to be built by China.”


Chinese President Xi Jin-


ping will no doubt retaliate in response to any new U.S. tariffs. But he may also seek a deal to avert Trump’s wrath. After decades of its disas-


trous one-child policy, which fi- nally ended in 2015, the Chinese economy is experiencing major turbulence. Its population is rapidly aging, its real estate mar- ket has imploded, and it has yet to recover from the draconian lockdowns during the corona- virus pandemic. China’s mas- sive youth unemployment now stands at well over 20%. Add it all up and China finds


itself far less able to weather an economic donnybrook than it was during Trump’s first term. Even if China and the Trump administration cut a deal, econo- mists warn that protective tariffs always raise the prices paid by consumers. Trump is betting, however, that the nations that have enriched themselves by plundering American markets will choose to pay up and absorb most of the added cost rather than lose their best customers in


UNFAIR President-elect Donald Trump, shown here during his first term with a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping promising cooperation on trade issues, has made it clear he won’t tolerate Beijing dumping heavily subsidized goods, such as those arriving daily in containers at the Port of Los Angeles, that force American companies out of business.


the United States. This was the point Trump


made during the campaign, telling Time magazine: “A lot of people say, ‘Oh, [tariffs are] gonna be a tax on us.’ I don’t believe that. I think it’s a tax on the country that’s doing it. I took in billions of dollars from China. Nobody else ever did anything on China. I also let people know what the threat of China was . . . and nobody was ever even mentioning it until I came along.” Leveling the playing field on


trade while boosting U.S. en- ergy production to hold down prices are two complementary pillars of Trump’s plan to super- charge the economy through his second term and beyond. But to truly unleash the gold-


en age Trump covets, the econ- omy needs something more. That’s why analysts expect the president-elect’s team to move quickly to make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that touched off the


Even if China and the Trump administration cut a deal, economists warn that protective tariffs always raise the prices paid by consumers.


economic surge in Trump’s first term.


TAX MAN ALWAYS COMETH


Prior to Trump’s first term, the U.S. corporate tax rate had climbed to become the highest among all 38 of the world’s devel- oped economies. Somehow, American firms


were expected to pay the high- est taxes in the developed world yet still compete internationally against companies that were of- ten receiving de facto subsidies from their governments. Drafted largely by Trump


supply-side gurus Larry Kudlow, Art Laffer, and Steve Moore, the TCJA was the cornerstone of Trump’s extraordinary econom- ic surge. Its key provisions included


lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cutting the top marginal tax rate for individ- uals from 39.6% to 37%. According to an August study


by the University of Chicago, the TCJA stands as the largest business tax cut in U.S. history. Dropping the top corporate tax rate by 40% helped the economy flourish, although it also reduced


JANUARY 2025 | NEWSMAX 55


CONTAINERS/MARK RALSTON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES / TRUMP/NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES


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