WSJ: "Dumbest trade war in history."

China's shuttered a bunch of coal fired generators and converted many others to NG. In the short term they may use more coal, but it's not a long term solution. China will find other sources of NG, I suspect Russia may fill that void. As well China will expand its suppliers, Canada has a nice new facility just across the way.
It always seems that no matter what happens with Trump's trade war, Canada wins. Nice 51st state.
 
Oh, and about those tariffs......

Countries worldwide rush to Europe over Trump’s tariffs - EU Commission head

Countries are ready to work with reliable trading partners in Europe. The trade duties imposed by US President Donald Trump have disrupted global markets, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says. "In a more and more unpredictable global environment, countries are lining up to work with us," the European Commission president said, without naming Trump or the United States.

In recent weeks, she has spoken with the leaders of Iceland, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada, India, and the United Arab Emirates, who were looking for “strong, reliable partners.” Europe is seeking to conclude new trade agreements, including a long-delayed pact with the Mercosur trade bloc of South American countries. Senior EU officials, whom Trump has systematically avoided in favor of national leaders, are stepping up their diplomatic efforts. In particular, von der Leyen is planning a trip to China to meet with President Xi Jinping later this year. Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China and Europe should jointly defend the trend of economic globalization and the international trade environment, as well as jointly resist unilateral intimidation methods by the United States. Canada, New Zealand and Australia are also talking to the UK. Those old Commonwealth ties.....

China is quietly and quickly offering to trade with former US client countries with no tariffs. In fact China is creating a trading consortium with India, Europe, Latin America, Malaysia and Asia with a combined population of over 3 billion people. Total US population is 348M. At the same time Ursula von der Leyen has has spoken with the leaders of Iceland, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada, India, and the United Arab Emirates, who were looking for “strong, reliable partners.”

"The world order is "shifting more deeply than at any time since the Cold War ended," von der Leyen added. She may be unelected but she's a smart lady and no figurehead.

In the lomg run, I think Trump has sparked a significant realignment in world trade, with Europe and China working as partners and to a certain extent sidelining the USA.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/worl...S&cvid=12da2f790bd94b67849cee5e9b486c5a&ei=13
 
And the job losses are starting to kick in....

Donald Trump’s tariffs are already triggering thousands of layoffs in American manufacturing plants, mostly in the Midwest and the East. Companies are ejecting workers in the wake of Trump’s purported plan to use the levies to bring manufacturing jobs back to the country. The Volvo Group has announced it’s cutting 800 workers at its Volvo and Mack Truck plants in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. “Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the impact of tariffs,” a Volvo Group spokesperson told Reuters.

Earlier this month Stellantis, which manufactures a variety of vehicles, announced it was laying off 900 employees at plants in Michigan and Indiana after the company paused production at some of its Canadian and Mexican assembly operations, according to a company memo obtained by CNN. Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs laid off more than 1,200 workers in Michigan and Minnesota in March, and General Motors announced earlier this month it would temporarily lay off 200 workers at a plant in Detroit. Goldman Sachs noted last week in a report that the president’s tariffs would likely create about 100,000 manufacturing jobs, while also killing up to 500,000 jobs across all industries. In addition, business owners are reluctant to make a massive investment in a new plant, which will take several months to years to establish, given the unpredictablity of Trump.

It ain't looking good and as those Chinese imports tail away due t prohibitive cost, businessess will go down and unemployment will increase.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/worl...S&cvid=d1b26d61d8e34edc996fbd6203ef8910&ei=15
 
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