Trump on China and trade

Trump, in Beijing, shifts blame for trade imbalance from China to his predecessors

Contrary to many media reports from the tin-eared, the tone may be different but the thought is really the same, and he always blamed American politicians for this, from his first day on campaign.

The Duce's sincere admiration for authoritarian government is much on display in China, today, as it will be during tomorrow's meeting with Putin, and his exculpation of China for what candidate Trump called "China's rape of America" comes from that very same place in his heart.

Trump called Xi “a very special man” with whom he has “great chemistry.” He congratulated Xi on the recent Communist Party Congress, which gave new authority to the Chinese leader. 

And although he challenged Xi on the economy and the “menace” of North Korea, he cast more blame on his American predecessors than on Xi for the trade imbalance.

“I don’t blame China," Trump said at a ceremony involving U.S. and Chinese business leaders. 

"Who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit.”

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Speaking earlier to the business leaders, Trump talked bluntly about the U.S. trade imbalance with China.

“We have to fix this because it just doesn’t work,” he said. “It is just not sustainable.”

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Later, Trump blamed prior U.S. administrations for creating a trade imbalance, saying, “It's too bad that past administrations allowed it to get so far out of kilter.”

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During the joint statement to the media, the two leaders said they agreed to cooperate on trade imbalance reduction, North Korea and cyber security, as well as on cracking down on illegal shipments to the United States of the powerful opioid fentanyl, which has contributed to a sharp rise in drug overdoses in the U.S.