China understands very well the consequences. President Trump very well understands the leverage. The U.S. market is the customer in the trade equation.

This is not a negotiation for the faint at heart… This.Shall.Be.Epic. THIS is the battle many of us have long awaited. Long awaited. The patriotic industrialists, our titans, have been patiently waiting for the leveling….

The overarching policy is a simple two word summary, “America First”. It is critical, absolutely critical, to remember: in the entirety of their economic rise to power, China has never had to contemplate an economic adversary ambivalent to their state-centric objectives.

In all prior economic negotiations China has simply bought off their Washington DC opposition through the use of lobbyists and Tom Donohue’s personal business enterprise, the U.S. CoC. China’s only familiar option is now completely off the table.

(Via Reuters) Chinese state media on Friday expressed alarm and warned of a “showdown with the U.S.” after President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line against China, to head a new White House National Trade Council.

Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored books such as “Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base”. The book was made into a documentary film about Beijing’s desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia.

“That individuals such as Navarro who have a bias against China are being picked to work in leading positions in the next administration, is no laughing matter,” the official English-language China Daily said in an editorial.

“The new administration should bear in mind that with economic and trade ties between the world’s two largest economies now the closest they have ever been, any move to damage the win-win relationship will only result in a loss for both sides.”

The previous day, China’s foreign ministry said in reaction it was playing close attention to Trump’s transition team and possible policy direction, that cooperation between the two countries was the only correct choice.

The Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said Trump’s decision over Navarro was “by no means a positive signal”.

“China needs to face up to the reality that the Trump team maintains a hard-line attitude toward China. It must discard any illusions and make full preparations for any offensive move by the Trump government,” the Global Times said in an editorial. (read more)