Trump: US Firms 'Hereby Ordered' to Find China Alternatives

President also ratchets up criticism of Fed chief to a new level as markets wobble
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 23, 2019 12:49 PM CDT
Trump Takes Criticism of Fed Chief to New Level
President Trump is criticizing China and the US Federal Reserve chief today.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

It's another volatile day on Wall Street, with the Dow down about 500 points at midday. Renewed friction between the US and China is to blame, as President Trump unleashed a series of angry tweets on that subject as well as Fed chief Jerome "Jay" Powell. After Beijing said it would impose tariffs on an additional $75 billion worth of American goods, Trump tweeted that US companies are "hereby ordered" to immediately look for alternatives to China, including relocating operations, reports the Wall Street Journal. “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them.” But Beijing was hardly Trump's only target. After Powell failed to be assertive enough to Trump's liking in a speech on cutting rates, Trump wrote: “As usual, the Fed did NOTHING!" But his next tweet drew the real attention: “My only question is, who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?”

Trump's reference to Xi as an "enemy" strikes CNBC as particularly bad news. It "suggests that the president’s personal relationship with Xi, which Trump has touted as the best route to completing a major trade deal uniting the world’s two largest economies, is at a low point," writes Tucker Higgins. China's decision to impose the new tariffs, which go into effect in phases on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, are retaliation for new tariffs the US is imposing on China, notes the Journal. In another slam against Beijing, Trump wrote that he is ordering "all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE, all deliveries of Fentanyl from China" because he says the drug is killing Americans. (More Jerome Powell stories.)

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