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The Trump administration is only further ratcheting up penalties for what it has identified as Chinese trading abuses and beyond, according to Axios’s Jonathan Swan. He reports the White House is preparing to “launch a major, ‘administration-wide,’ broadside” against the country in the coming weeks. Per Swan, “The White House plans to unveil new information about China's hostile actions against America's public and private sectors, and to act on it.”

But for the time being, Beijing’s responses indicate at a minimum that it isn’t ready to fold in the face of intensifying U.S. pressure — and suggest the government intends to make good on its pledge not to negotiate a trade truce under duress. “This trade war is seen by Beijing as a long-term affair, whereas President Trump is not seen by Beijing as a long-term leader,” High Frequency Economics chief economist Carl Weinberg wrote in a Sunday note to clients. “President Xi [Jinping] can patiently sit out U.S. trade aggression while pursuing China’s industrial policy, and wait to deal anew with the next U.S. president.”

That said, the Wall Street Journal’s Lingling Wei reports that some Chinese officials are eyeing the period after the midterm elections as a more promising opportunity to reengage in talks. Trump and Xi will have a chance to talk in person in late November when they attend the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.

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“So far, Beijing’s strategy has been to respond forcefully to the Trump administration’s trade offensive,” Wei writes. “But because China imports less from the U. S. — just under $130 billion last year — than vice versa, Beijing is running out of products to penalize. If Beijing moves to retaliate by targeting American businesses operating in China, as some officials have proposed, the country’s leadership runs the risk of souring the foreign-investment environment and causing foreign capital to flee at a time the Chinese economy is slowing.”

U.S. business interests in China are already warning of that possibility in urging the Trump administration to back off. As Jake Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, told my colleague Danielle Paquette over the weekend, “We encourage both sides to resume a results-oriented dialogue in earnest.”

The White House is likely more inclined to listen to Americans closer to home, a dynamic Beijing is factoring into its approach. The regime paid for an insert that appeared Sunday in Iowa’s largest newspaper. It pointed to the pain that soybean farmers are feeling as a result of China’s retaliatory tariffs, calling it “the fruit of a president’s folly.’’

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Here's what it looked like, via Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs:

Iowa voters are already widely skeptical of the metals' tariffs that Trump imposed earlier this year. From David Wasserman, U.S. House editor for the Cook Political Report:

The Trump administration has been trying to mitigate the damage for farmers, disbursing $25.8 million this month as part of a $12 billion bailout designed to help them cope with the trade war’s disruptions. My colleague Jeff Stein reports that through Thursday, the Agriculture Department had received 39,447 applications for aid and approved 7,851 of them.

TRUMP TRACKER

TRADE FLY-AROUND:

— Tech companies warn of U.S-China fallout. NYT's Cecilia Kang: "As the fight kicks into high gear this week, American tech and telecom companies are warning that the industry’s growing reliance on products made and assembled in China means they are more likely to be casualties, not victors, in the skirmish... United States customs will begin collecting a tax on circuit boards, semiconductors, cell tower radios, modems and other products made and assembled in China and exported into America. Those tariffs, Intel warned in a letter last month, are 'a game changer for the American consumer.'”

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The Post's Jeanne Whalen details how Cedar Electronics, which has been selling CB radios to American truckers since the 1960s, is struggling to find alternative manufacturing options after its Chinese-made product got slapped with tariffs.

Raw materials win exemptions. WSJ's Chuin-Wei Yap: "Items cut from the initial tariff hit-list point to weaknesses across a range of businesses, from energy giants like Halliburton Co. to smaller suppliers of specialty parts, all of which sought waivers for raw materials and parts by arguing that China had become an indispensable supplier."

— Asian companies turn away from China. Reuters's Ju-min Park and Makiko Yamazaki: “A growing number of Asian manufacturers of products ranging from memory chips to machines tools are moving to shift production from China to other factories in the region in the wake of [Trump’s] tariffs on Chinese imports. Companies [have been] plotting production moves since July, when the first tariffs hit, and the shifts are now under way... The quick reactions to the U.S. tariffs are possible because many large manufacturers have facilities in multiple countries and can move at least small amounts of production without building new factories. Some governments, notably in Taiwan and Thailand, are actively encouraging companies to move work from China.”

— Trudeau suggests NAFTA talks will continue. Reuters's Allison Lampert: “U.S. and Canadian officials trying to reach a deal on NAFTA are ‘very likely’ to hold informal talks on the sidelines of a major U.N. meeting in the next few days, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday. . . . Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer — the two top officials at the talks — are due to be in New York on Monday and Tuesday for the U.N. General Assembly. ‘Certainly the fact that many of our negotiators, many of our teams, will be in New York at the same time (means) it’s very likely that conversations continue in a constructive but less formal way,’ Trudeau told reporters.”

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MELTDOWN WATCH:

“Lindsey Graham: Appoint special counsel to investigate ‘bureaucratic coup’ against Trump.” The Post's Tom Hamburger.

— Kushner courts mega-donors. Politico's Alex Isenstadt: "The latest addition to Kushner’s expansive portfolio: ambassador to the GOP money set, a contingent that remains wary of the administration and its never-ending tumult. The 37-year-old Trump senior adviser has attended at least four donor gatherings since August, and those close to him say he may soon appear at more... Kushner's charm offensive reflects a broader realization within the Trump White House that after dismissing elite donors in 2016, they are now a constituency that must be carefully tended to."

NYC bill aims to close “Kushner loophole.” The Associated Press's Bernard Condon: “A New York City councilman plans to introduce a bill to close the ‘Kushner loophole’ that fails to check up on landlords if they file false documents with the city. The move follows an Associated Press report earlier this year that Jared Kushner’s family real estate company filed dozens of false documents with the city claiming it had no rent-regulated tenants in many of its buildings. That allowed it to avoid strict oversight of construction that critics say was used to drive out low-paying tenants.”

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MARKET MOVERS

— JPMorgan: Beware Trump's overconfidence. Bloomberg News's Joanna Ossinger: “JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists are starting to make forecast and strategy changes around the potential that [Trump] gets so overconfident in the robust economy and markets that he makes a ‘major miscalculation.’ The worry is that ‘U.S. economic and equity market resilience despite tariffs will embolden the President on all geopolitical fronts — autos, Nafta and particularly Iran — and thus risk a major miscalculation from sanctions that are tough to calibrate,’ strategists led by John Normand wrote in a note Sept. 21.”

— Stock buybacks surge. WSJ's Michael Rapoport and Theo Francis: “Last December’s tax overhaul is boosting corporate profits in more ways than one... The change has also helped them fund record stock buybacks — a move that makes their results appear even better, by boosting the per-share earnings they highlight for investors. S&P 500 companies bought back a record $189 billion of their own shares in the first quarter, and a similar number — if not more — is expected for the second quarter, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. By contrast, S&P 500 buybacks totaled no more than $137 billion in any of the six quarters before the tax overhaul. . . . In all, dozens of large companies bought back 4% or more of their shares outstanding in the 12 months ended in June.”

— Pot is the new tech. WSJ's Jacquie McNish and Vipal Monga: “Entrepreneurs and investors are rushing headlong into the nascent legal marijuana industry, fueling a stock craze reminiscent of the late 1990s dot-com bubble and the recent bitcoin mania. Big companies, wealthy families and amateurs alike are taking stakes in speculative companies, many of which have scant revenue or history . . . Canada has become a hotbed for the cannabis industry because it is one of only two countries, along with Uruguay, that has legalized recreational marijuana use. Starting Oct. 17, Canadians will be able to buy pot from licensed vendors across the country . . . Federal restrictions make it more difficult for U.S. cannabis companies to make financial transactions, and markets such as the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange refuse to list companies that have any federally unsanctioned U.S. business, leading many to list on other lightly regulated Canadian markets.”

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— Economist: World economy is on shaky grounds. Bloomberg News's Fergal O'Brien and Marcus Bensasson: “The global economy is looking shaky and the economics chief at the Bank for International Settlements says central banks may be powerless if it all goes awry. Claudio Borio, a long-time critic of loose monetary policy, used the BIS’s latest Quarterly Review to highlight again that central bankers were overburdened after the global financial crisis. He said side effects are inevitable, including market turmoil such as that seen in emerging markets in response to Federal Reserve tightening and dollar appreciation.”

POCKET CHANGE

— Labor disputes rise as economy flourishes. WSJ's Kris Maher and Eric Morath: “The strengthening economy and tight labor market are giving workers more confidence to demand employer concessions through strikes. ... With the national unemployment rate at 3.9% in August, just above an 18-year low, and skilled workers in scarce supply, union officials say they have more leverage at the bargaining table and that workers are more comfortable with the risks associated with striking. Labor disputes have caused workers, excluding teachers, to miss 633,000 days on the job this year through August, up from 440,000 in all of last year, according to the Labor Department. Including the wave of teacher strikes in the spring, there were more than 2 million days missed, the highest level since 2006. ... Wages have been growing at a fairly modest pace relative to the historically low unemployment rate.”

— Hedge funds relish Sky sale. WSJ's Laurence Fletcher and Ben Dummett: “The bidding war for broadcaster Sky PLC had already provided hedge funds with one of their best trades of the year. Saturday’s dramatic auction made it even better. Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp., Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group and Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management are among funds to have reaped huge profits from their positions this year. A 21-month sale process culminated in a dramatic auction on Saturday that saw U.S. cable giant Comcast Corp. beat 21st Century Fox Inc. with a $38.8 billion bid... or about $22.59 a share, to buy the broadcaster. That represents a 71% uptick in Sky’s share price this year.”

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— Fintech expands in Europe. NYT's Adam Satariano: “So-called fintech companies have sought to take on the world’s biggest banks for years, but only recently have companies like Monzo begun to build a critical mass. Millions of customers across Europe, most in their 20s or 30s, have signed up over the past two years. And thanks to favorable regulations in the region and an influx of venture capital, that shift is accelerating. Here in Britain, officials have been concerned about the power of large banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and they see the start-ups as weakening the hold of traditional lenders. The authorities have adopted policies such as a ‘regulatory sandbox,’ allowing what are known as challenger banks to test new financial products and get feedback from regulators before proposing them to customers. In contrast, while some policymakers in the United States are trying to make it easier to open new banks, progress has been slow.”

MONEY ON THE HILL

— Trump misses out on wall funding. AP's Matthew Daly and Kevin Freking: "Congress is set to pass a crucial spending bill that averts a government shutdown, but there’s one potential obstacle: [Trump.] Neither party wants the government to close ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, but Trump has made clear his frustration at the lack of money for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He says it is 'ridiculous' the wall has yet to be fully funded. With less than a week before a Sept. 30 deadline for a partial shutdown, Republican leaders hope they can get Trump to set aside his frustration about the wall and sign legislation that funds the military and a host of civilian agencies for the next year."

DAYBOOK

Today

The Council on Foreign Relations organizes a panel on “the legacy and lessons of the financial crisis.”

Coming soon

THE FUNNIES

BULL SESSION

Republicans and Democrats vehemently split on Brett Kavanaugh:

Fox News hosts give Trump conflicting advice on Rod Rosenstein: