“Apple Inc’s Chief Executive Tim Cook on Saturday called for ‘calm heads’ and more open trade, amid rising fears of a trade war between the United States and China,” Matthew Miller and Cate Cadell report for Reuters. “Trade tension between China and the United States flared this week when President Donald Trump unveiled plans on Thursday to slap tariffs on potentially up to $60 billion in Chinese goods.”
“‘I’m cognizant that in both the U.S. and China, there have been cases where everyone hasn’t benefited, where the benefit hasn’t been balanced,’ Cook said,” Miller and Cadell report. “Speaking at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing, Cook said he hoped ‘calm heads’ would prevail.”
“In the past year, Apple and other foreign tech firms have grappled with a string of new regulatory requirements in China, including a controversial law requiring firms to house user data in data centres overseen by Chinese firms,” Miller and Cadell report. “Last month, Apple officially moved to store keys for its iCloud data in China, provoking intense criticism from rights groups who say the decision makes it easier for Chinese officials to tap and collect private data.”
Cook has come to China several times in the past year, and was among executives who met Chinese President Xi Jinping last October,” Miller and Cadell report. “‘My belief is that one plus one equals three. The pie gets larger, working together,’ Cook said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
At least half of the popular fallacies about economics come from assuming that economic activity is a zero-sum game, in which what is gained by someone is lost by someone else. But transactions would not continue unless both sides gained, whether in international trade, employment, or renting an apartment. — Thomas Sowell
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook heads to China as President Trump orders 25 percent tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports – March 23, 2018
BoA Merrill Lynch: Apple is prepping a ‘foldable’ iPhone; U.S. and China trade tensions not an issue for Apple – March 23, 2018
Designed in California. Assembled in China. How Apple’s iPhone skews U.S. trade deficit – March 21, 2018
President Trump blocks Broadcom-Qualcomm deal over China concerns – March 13, 2018
Elon Musk sides with President Trump on trade with China – March 8, 2018
Analyst: President Trump’s tariff impact on Apple would be just a ’rounding error’ – March 7, 2018
Apple and other tech firms caught in crossfire as U.S.-China trade war looms – March 7, 2018
Apple Macs caught up in President Trump’s aluminum tariff plan – March 2, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook pressured to follow Elon Musk and leave President’s Council over Paris Agreement kerfuffle – June 2, 2017
Apple CEO Cook calls President Trump as Elon Musk threatens to quit White House advisory councils over Paris decision – May 31, 2017
President Trump knows exactly what he’s doing and people who understand President Trump know exactly what he’s doing. It’s only those with raging cases of TDS who have their panties in a perpetual bunch.
My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after. — Donald J. Trump
I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: if you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big. Most people think small, because most people are afraid of success, afraid of making decisions, afraid of winning. And that gives people like me a great advantage, — Donald J. Trump
The last protectionist American president was Herbert Hoover. We saw how the 1930 Tariff Act worked out. I heightened a Great Depression that lasted nearly an additional decade.
Another American president, Ronald Reagan, once likened trade wars to the pie fights in old Hollywood comedies. One pie in the face leads to another. And then another.
Pretty soon, Reagan said in a 1986 radio address, “everything and everybody just gets messier and messier. The difference here is that it’s not funny. It’s tragic. Protectionism becomes destructionism. It costs jobs.”
Until lately, I would have believed that most Republicans, like most Americans, gave more credit to Reagan than to a celebrity apprentice in the presidency.
another trump hater with no suggestions to right the wrongs of democrat administrations trade imbalance your fake concern for the red team is obvious
Right, Ronald Reagan was a RINO /s
Shhhhh … contrarian goeb doesn’t yet realize that Reagan was a democrat, then he lost his mind, then he was recruited by the republican party to put a friendly face onto their mission of selfish wealth accumulation amongst the few. Nothing has changed except the crazy gop actor now also has no morals, no fidelity, no empathy for others, no diplomatic sense, no economic understanding, no understanding of government operations, and no shame. But he will fight to the death to defend the honor of his orange hero. The combover king’s golf habits have finally stopped the fat ass gop party whining that democratic presidents golf too much. The truth is easily available, goeb just refuses to learn anything.
I’m certain this administration has carefully considered the implementation of these tariffs by consulting with heads of industry, performing impact analysis and looking at the effects of past tariffs…yeah right.
For a quick history lesson on what protectionism does, take a look at the effects of Hawley–Smoot on the economy. Nobody wins in a trade war.
I’m cognizant that in both the U.S. and China, there have been cases where everyone hasn’t benefited, where the benefit hasn’t been balanced. — Tim Cook, March 23, 2018
Today I’m going to talk about how to make America wealthy again. We have to do it. With 30-miles from Steel City, Pittsburgh played a central role in building our nation. The legacy of Pennsylvania steelworkers lives in the bridges, railways and skyscrapers that make up our a great American landscape.
But our workers’ loyalty was repaid, you know it better than anybody, with total betrayal. Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization, moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas. Globalization has made the financial elite, who donate to politicians, very, very wealthy. I used to be one of them.
I hate to say it , but I used to be one. But it has left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache. When subsidized foreign steel is dumped into our markets, threatening our factories, the politicians have proven, folks, have proven they do nothing.
For years, they watched on the sidelines as our jobs vanished and our communities were plunged into Depression-level unemployment. Many of these areas have never recovered and never will unless I become president.
Then, they’re going to recover fast. Our politicians took away from the people their means of making a living and supporting their families. Skilled craftsmen and tradespeople and factory workers have seen the jobs they love shipped thousands and thousands of miles away.
Many Pennsylvania towns, once thriving and humming, are now in a state of total disrepair. This wave of globalization has wiped out totally, totally, our middle class. It does not have to be this way. We can turn it around and we can turn it around fast.
But if we are going to deliver real change, we’re going to have to reject the campaign of fear and intimidation being pursued by powerful corporations, media leaks and political dynasties. The people who rigged the system for their benefit will do anything and say anything to keep things exactly the way they are.
The people who rigged the system are supporting Hillary Clinton because they know as long as she is in charge, nothing is going to change. The inner cities will remain poor. The factories will remain closed. The borders will remain open. The special interests will remain firmly in control. Hillary Clinton and her friends in global finance want to scare America into thinking small.
And they want to scare the American people out of voting for the better future. And you have a great future, folks. You gave a great future. These people have given her tens of millions of dollars. My campaign has the absolute opposite message. I want you to imagine a much better life and a life where you can believe in the American dream again. Right now, you can’t do that.
I want you to imagine how much better our future can be if we declare independence from the elites who led us from one financial and foreign policy disaster to another. Our friends in Britain recently voted to take back control of their economy, politics and borders.
I was on the right side of that issue, as you know, with the people. I was there. I said it was going to happen, I felt it. While Hillary, as always, stood with the elites and both she and President Obama predicted that one, and many others, totally wrong.
Now, it’s time for the American people to take back their future. Going to take it back.
That’s the choice that we face. We can either give into Hillary Clinton’s campaign of fear or we can choose to believe again in America.
Very sadly, we lost our way when we stopped believing in our country. America became the world’s dominant economy by becoming the world’s dominant producer. You know that from right here, right in this plant.
The wealth this created was shared broadly, creating the biggest middle-class the world has ever known. But then, America changed its policy from promoting development in America — in, in, in America — to promoting development in other nations. That’s what’s happening and that’s what’s happened.
We allowed foreign countries to subsidize their goods, devalue their currencies, violate their agreements and cheat in every way imaginable, and our politicians did nothing about it. Trillions of our dollars and millions of our jobs flowed overseas as a result. I have visited cities and towns across this country where one-third or even half of manufacturing jobs have been wiped out in the last 20 years. Today, we import nearly $800 billion more in goods than we export. We can’t continue to do that. This is not some natural disaster, it’s a political and politician-made disaster. Very simple. And it can be corrected and we can correct it fast when we have people with the right thinking. Right up here. It is the consequence… It is the consequence of a leadership class that worships globalism over Americanism. This is a direct affront to our founding fathers, who — America wanted to be strong. They wanted this country to be strong. They wanted to be independent and they wanted it to be free.
Our founding fathers understood trade much better than our current politicians, believe me.
George Washington said that the promotion of domestic manufacturing will be among the first consequences to flow from an energetic government. Alexander Hamilton spoke frequently of the expediency of encouraging manufacturing in, in, in the United States.
And listen to this. The first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, warned that, quote, “the abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people.” He understood it much better than our current politicians, that’s why he was Abraham Lincoln, I guess.
Our original Constitution did not even have an income tax. Instead, it had tariffs emphasizing taxation of foreign, not domestic, production.
Yet today, 240 years after the Revolution, we’ve turned things completely upside down. We tax and regulate and restrict our companies to death and then we allow foreign countries that cheat to export their goods to us tax-free. How stupid is this? How could it happen? How stupid is this?
As a result, we have become more dependent on foreign countries than ever before. Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to declare our economic independence once again. That means…
That means voting for Donald Trump.
I’ll do it. No doubt about it. Not even a little doubt. It also means reversing two of the worst legacies of the Clinton years. America has lost nearly 1/3 of its manufacturing jobs since 1997. Even as the country has increased its population, think of this, by 50 million people. At the center of this catastrophe are two trade deals pushed by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
First, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or the disaster called NAFTA. Second, China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. NAFTA was the worst trade deal in the history – it’s like – the history of this country. And China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest job theft in the history of our country.
It was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA. People don’t remember. In 1993. And Hillary Clinton who supported it. And the havoc that it wreaked after he left office was unbelievable. It was also Bill Clinton who lobbied for China’s disastrous entry into the World Trade Organization, and Hillary Clinton who backed that terrible, terrible agreement.
Then as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton stood by idly while China cheated on its currency, added another trillion dollars to the trade deficit, and stole hundreds of billions of dollars in our intellectual property.
And I have been talking about China for many years. And you know what? Nobody listened. But they are listening now. That, I can tell you.
The city of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania have lost 1/3 of their manufacturing jobs since the Clinton’s put China into the WTO. 50,000 factories across America have shut their doors in that time. And this factory, because of your great owners, Gabe and Gloria, it’s hanging in. Hanging in. But they just told me, it is not easy.
Almost half of our entire manufacturing trade deficit in goods with the world is the result and it’s the result of trade with China. It was also Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, who shoved us into a job-killing deal with South Korea, as reported by the Economic Policy Institute in May . This deal doubled our trade deficit with South Korea and destroyed nearly 100,000 American jobs.
As Bernie Sanders said, Hillary Clinton voted for virtually every trade agreement that has cost the workers of this country millions, millions of jobs.
Trade reform and the negotiation of great trade deals is the quickest way to bring our jobs back to our country.
To understand why trade reform creates jobs, and it creates a lot of them, we need to understand how all nations grow and prosper. Massive trade deficits subtract directly from our gross domestic product. From 1947 to 2001, a span of over five decades, our inflation-adjusted Gross Domestic Product grew at a rate of 3.5 percent. However, since 2002, the year after we fully opened our markets to Chinese imports, the GDP growth rate has been cut in half.
But is this mean for Americans? Not good. For every 1 percent of GDP growth, we failed to generate in any given year, we failed to create over one million jobs.
What a waste, and what a sad, sad thing.
American’s job creation deficit, due to slower growth since 2002, is well over 20 million jobs. And that is just about the number of jobs our country needs right now to put America back to work at decent wages. Wages are very low, because there is no competition. And they are going to go up, because we’re going to thrive again as a country.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the greatest danger yet. The TPP, as it is known, would be the death blow for American manufacturing. It would give up all of our economic leverage to an international commission that would put the interests of foreign countries above our own. It would further open our markets to aggressive currency cheaters — cheaters, that’s what they are, cheaters.
They are not playing by the rules. They are cheating. It would make it easier for our trading competitors to ship cheap subsidized goods into United States markets, while allowing foreign countries to continue putting up barriers in front of our exports — which is what they do. It is very hard to export to their countries. They make it very difficult.
We, on the other hand — come on in, everybody. Come on in. Bad leadership.
The TPP would lower tariffs would lower tariffs on foreign cars, while leaving in place the foreign practices that keep American cars from being sold overseas.
That is not all, mark my words. China will enter the TPP through the back door at a later date. They are watching, they are studying. They are not in it now, but are going to be in it. If it is good, they will be there.
By the way, if it is no good, they’ll pass. It’s the same way, always is.
The agreement would also force American workers to compete directly against workers from Vietnam, one of the lowest wage countries on Earth. Not only will the TPP undermine our economy, but it will undermine our independence.
That’s what is happening. The TPP creates a new international commission that makes decisions the American people are no longer given the right to veto. These commissions are great for Hillary’s Wall Street funders, who can spend vast amounts of money to influence the people on the commissions and the outcomes.
It should be no surprise, then, that Hillary Clinton, according to Bloomberg, took a leading part in drafting the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Please remember that, especially in November.
She praised or pushed the TPP on 45 separate occasions, and even called it the gold standard. Hillary Clinton was totally for the TPP just a short while ago.
But when she saw my stance — which is totally against — she was shamed into saying she would be against it, too. And I will tell you, it was the same shame that she had recently where she was sort of forced into saying radical “Islamic terrorism,” which she didn’t want to say, but she was shamed into that.
But have no doubt that she will immediately approve it, if it is put before her. And that is guaranteed. Guaranteed.
She will do this, just as she has betrayed American workers for Wall Street and throughout — throughout her career. Her whole career she has betrayed the American worker. She is trying to put on a good front now, she will betray you again.
Her career and her husband have signed so many disasters and never, ever forget NAFTA. Just never ever forget it, because you know what it’s done and I know what it’s done. And in touring, I’ve seen the devastation that it’s left behind.
Here’s how it would go. She would make a small token change, declare the TPP Pact fixed and ram it through and you will suffer. That is why Hillary is now only saying she has problems with TPP in its current form.
You know what that means. That means like they will make a little two-word change and she will fix it and she will feel great. But she says in its current form, she can rush to embrace it again and she will at the earliest opportunity. If the media doesn’t believe me, I have a challenge for you and Hillary. Ask Hillary if she is willing to withdraw from the TPP her first day in office and unconditionally rule out its passage in any form.
There’s no way to fix TPP. We need bilateral trade deals. We do not need to enter into another massive international agreement that ties us up and binds us down, like TPP does.
A Trump administration will change our failed trade policies, and I mean quickly.
Thank you. Here are seven steps I would pursue right away to bring back our jobs. Number one, I am going to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has not yet been ratified.
I am going to appoint the toughest and smartest, and I know them all, trade negotiators to fight on behalf of American workers.
I am going to direct the secretary of commerce to identify every violation of trade agreements a foreign country is currently using to harm you, the American worker.
I will then direct all appropriate agencies to use every tool under American and international law to end these abuses. And abuse is the right word.
Number four. I’m going to tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal by a lot. Not just a little, by a lot for our workers.
And if they don’t agree to a renegotiation, which they might not because they are so used to having their own way — not with Trump they won’t have their own way.
Then, I will submit under Article 2205 of the NAFTA Agreement that America intends to withdraw from the deal.
Number five. I’m going to instruct my treasury secretary to label China a currency manipulator, which should have been done years ago.
Any country that devalues their currency in order to take unfair advantage of the United States, which is many countries, will be met with sharply. And that includes tariffs and taxes.
Number six, I’m going to instruct the U.S. trade representative to bring trade cases against China, both in this country and at the WTO.
China’s unfair subsidy behavior is prohibited by the terms of its entrance to the WTO and I intend to enforce those rules and regulations. And basically, I intend to enforce the agreements from all countries, including China.
Seven, if China does not stop its illegal activities, including its theft of American trade secrets, I will use every lawful — this is very easy. This is so easy. I love saying this. I will use every lawful presidential power to remedy trade disputes, including the application of tariffs consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
And when they say trade expansion, they’re talking about other countries, they’re not talking about us because there is no expansion. They get the expansion, we get the joblessness. That’s the way it works. It’s not going to happen anymore.
President Reagan deployed similar trade measures when motorcycle and semiconductor imports threatened U.S. industry. I remember. His tariff on Japanese motorcycles was 45 percent and his tariff to shield America’s semiconductor industry was 100 percent, and that had a big impact, folks. A big impact.
Hillary Clinton and her campaign of fear will try to spread the lie that these actions will start a trade war. You already have a trade war, and we’re losing badly. Badly.
She has it completely backwards. Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible deal after another, from NAFTA, to China to South Korea. It doesn’t matter. No matter where she went, the American worker was hurt and you’ll be hurt worse than ever before if she becomes president of the United States. That, I can tell you.
A Trump administration will end that war by getting a fair deal for the American people and the American worker. The era of economic surrender will finally be over. It will be over. You’re not going to see it anymore. Well, I can’t guarantee it, because after me, they’ll probably start doing it again. But we will have four and maybe eight great, great productive years and we’ll never go back and we’ll make sure we never go back.
Thank you. Thank you, very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone. I appreciate it.
A new era of prosperity will finally begin. America will be independent once more. Independent once more. Doesn’t that sound great?
Under a Trump presidency, the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.
We will stand up to trade cheating. Cheating. Cheaters, that’s what they are. Cheaters. We will stand up to trade cheating anywhere and everywhere it threatens the American job.
We will make America the best place in the world to start a business. We’ll hire workers and we’ll open factories and we’ll get rid of these horrible regulations that make it impossible to do business in this country.
This will also include massive tax reform to lift the crushing burdens on American workers and businesses. We will also get rid of all of these rules and all of these problems and all of the bureaucracy which are destroying, absolutely destroying our job creation capacity, which we used to be the best in the world and now we’re getting close to the bottom, folks. We’re getting close to the bottom.
Many people think that these regulations are an even greater impediment than the fact that we’re one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. We’re also going to fully capture America’s tremendous energy capacity. This will create for our workers, and that’s what we want, for our workers, growth for our economy, and begin reducing our budget deficits which are massive; yearly budget deficits, massive.
Our trade deficits, we don’t even want to talk about it. Our budget deficits are massive.
Hillary Clinton wants to shut down energy production and shut down the mines — and she wants to shut down and she said it just recently — she wants to shut down the miners. I want to do exactly the opposite.
A Trump administration will also ensure that we start using American steel for American infrastructure. And aluminum.
Just like the American steel from Pennsylvania that built the Empire State Building, that’s what we’re going to do. It built the Empire State Building. It will be American steel that will fortify America’s crumbling bridges — American steel. It will be American steel.
It will be American steel that sends our skyscrapers soaring, soaring into the sky, beautiful sight, more beautiful with American steel. It will be American steel that rebuilds our inner cities. It will be American hand (ph) that remake this country, and it will American energy mined from American resources, that powers this country.
It will be American workers who are hired to do the job. Nobody else — American workers.
We are going to put American steel and aluminum back into the backbone of our country.
This alone will create massive numbers of jobs, high-paying jobs, good jobs, not the jobs we have today, which everybody agrees are bad jobs. We’re going to create massive numbers of good jobs.
On trade, on immigration, on foreign policy, we are going to put America first again.
We are going to make America wealthy again.
We are going to reject Hillary Clinton’s policy of fear and her policy of absolute nonsense, because it’s not working and it’s grossly incompetent, and we can’t take it any longer, and we’re not going to take it any longer.
We are going to embrace the possibilities of change, but real change, not Obama change, real change.
It’s time to believe in the future. It’s time to believe in each other. It’s time to believe in America again. This is how we are going to make America great again for all Americans, for all Americans.
We’re going to make America great again for everyone, greater than ever before. And I promise you if I become president, we are going to be working again. We are going to have great jobs again. You’re going to be so happy. You’re going to be proud of your president. You’re going to be proud, proud, proud of our country once again.
Thank you very much. — Donald Trump, June 28, 2016
More propaganda from the troll farm.
oh, shut up.
Free Clue: no one is going to read that 3000+ word campaign speech to see if it even makes a valid point. By virtual definition, it is merely hot air of empty promises.
But more to the point, the majority of the jobs lost in the US Steel Industry has been because of improved automation and *productivity*, which means that even if the foreign markets were to disappear, they’ll never have as many employees per rolled ton as they did twenty years ago. There’s not a “third to half” as that speech claimed, but roughly 80% reduction in labor – – ‘IT IS AUTOMATION STUPID!’, resulting in more tons per employee-hour.
Which is partially why when Bush Jr tried Steel tariffs in 2002 … it ended up being a net loss for US workers & the US Economy. So just where’s there any scientific proof that this current proposal is quantitatively any different? Yes, operator, I’ll hold. Recall Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
And this is even besides now looking at the 2017 track record instead of campaign stump rhetoric. For example for the metric of Job Creation: baselining from the average of Obama’s second term, 2017 was inferior by roughly 15%. Oh, and wages _are_ still low, but it isn’t because there is no competition, but because of an imbalance in power structures which supports further union-busting, in alignment with even more automation in the workplace.
Provided, just in case you actually want facts. /S
We all know bull (result of defecation) when we see it.
Calm heads, ha, China definitely will react calmly but the drama queen on the other side? Ha, what a laugh.
I hope the WTO along with the free and civilized world see what is happening here and begins to negotiate worthwhile deals with partners of integrity and merit. Let them build their wall. They certainly can’t build bridges, that takes calm heads.
It’s not to late to move headquarters to the free and civilized world, but it is admirable trying to change from within. After all the country was once the greatest, now, it’s a total laugh. Calm heads require some intelligence and the head honcho has made it abundantly clear that feature is in short supply.
“Because we’re so stupid.”
Donald Trump
Wow, such respect for China and as always none for the U.S.
Consider that China’s leadership is actually in a state of panic at the thought of their supply chain being disrupted. They produce finished goods but have access to very little of the resources needed to build these products.
This is the main reason the are flexing militarily, to ensure their supply chain. Mess with that and their economy shrinks. We are MUCH more self-reliant than China. Hell they can’t even feed themselves.
Think about it RW. If you were seriously as rationale as you pretend, you would see that balancing the trade agreements would be better for all, but as long as they are stacked in China’s favor, much of the world suffers rot from within.
BTW, China will cave and we will have a better trade deal.
They have no choice, they need us more than we need them.
They don’t buy our debt? GOOD, no more bullshit budgets passed like the last one.
WIN/WIN/WINNING!!
I don’t have much respect for China, but I have even less for Apple’s home nation.
Balancing trade agreements is most effectively done through the WTO in my opinion, and the actions of Apple’s home nation shows disdain for that, along with most of the rest of the world. Of course history has shown that Apple’s home nation is a war mongering. It isn’t China that’s starting a potential trade war.
So much winning, how’s that winning in Iraq going for you? Find that weapons of mass destruction program yet? You’ve been there 15 years, notching up the deaths to the genocide level.
WTO? Yes, why look after our own good when we can allow another U.N. style body to go against American workers whenever possible.
Do you think the US is the only country sick of WTO rules?
No, just another weak-minded individual who thinks anything pro-America is bad for everyone.
And how long do you intend to trot out that Iraq narrative?
It’s silly and irrelevant.
might be, why not trot out your narrative on a site where your opinions are congruent to the topic? Shall I trot out my convictions/passions for cycling on a baby clothing site? Yeah, I know both topics deal with clothing and all, but….
Do you RW, have a need to stand out, or be powerful and feel impotent where your obsession would more fittingly be aired?
You asked a question that I am happy to try to reply to:
No, I don’t feel a need to stand out, frankly some times I wish I did not. For example if you take a look at the topic posted at MDN a while back “Apple CEO Cook prays for victims, families, and loved ones of mass murder in Parkland, Florida” you’ll notice that MDN included comments from Tim Cook, President Trump, the first lady and from MDN.
I made my comment on the topic, you can find it among the many others there. It stands out from the others in my opinion and in my opinion I stayed on topic. Did I want it to stand out? No but I have a passion for peace love and life and I try to respect that where I can but in doing so, it sure stood out from the rest of the posts there, which I find amazing because there are well over 150 posts under that topic heading. I’d take a look at the other comments to find out who is not only obsessing but showing little to no regard for human life.
I’ll also add that when it comes to making a top level post, I do try to stick to the topic at hand. Often the resulting thread can go off on a tangent, that’s fine with me.
I do hope that helps answer your question.
“I don’t have much respect for China, but I have even less for Apple’s home nation.”
you have more respect for a repressive communist nation than the freest country on earth? congrats by your own words you revealed to the world you are one sick f*ck with zero credibility
Only cause they have their wall built.
Oh and the top 10 freest nations on earth are according to the human freedom index (in order) are: Switzerland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and, tied at 9th place, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Of course you can mock the reference (Human Freedom Index) but it’s a lot better than the one you supplied.
you can stick the liberal index and your sick china support where the sun don’t shine
Yes I could, you can’t though that stars and skidmarks is shoved pretty tightly up there.
ok hole hound you are experienced I am not
You aren’t experienced? Wow you must have that stars and skid marks pretty well wedged up there.
Gosh, looks like someone doesn’t remember the shock from a couple of years ago when China restricted the export of rare earth elements (they’re a major supplier for the world).
Similarly, China embarked on making inroads into Africa, including a ‘Supply Chain Assurance’ initiative nineteen (19) years ago.
From the Jan 2013 issue of the UN’s magazine on Africa Renewal:
“Already trade between Africa and China has grown at a breathtaking pace.
It was $10.5 billion in 2000, $40 billion in 2005 and $166 billion in 2011.
China is currently Africa’s largest trading partner, having surpassed the US
in 2009.”
In 2014, it summed to $220B … that’s $30B/yr …
And in March 2017, Forbes reported that China’s investments in Africa has doubled again – is now at a pace of $60B/year.
They now have goodwill and good trade relations with 54 countries there…strategically, they are a lot better off than the entire West is combined.
And sadly a lot of that will dry up when South Africa becomes the new Zimbabwe in the next decade.
As far as Africa, our culture it too ingrained in giving stuff to them until George jr tried to change the tide.
Not that they don’t have substantial markets but really do you think China will take African trade as an offset to the US?
The rare earth elements are a strategic production (and one that we should not have abandoned for so long) but I still don’t see China having enough of the labor force trained and the economy geared towards much more than factory output, which has served them well the past 20 years.
We’ll see.
First, I was referring to the entire continent of Africa, not merely one country. The facts of the matter are that South Africa represents only 5% of the population and 10% of the GDP (56 million of 1.216 billion; $295B of $3.3T).
Overall, it very clearly is an offset – – and diversification – – of the risk of trading primarily to the USA. Particularly since Africa is not the first place that China has done this. Setting aside Africa’s growth over the last two decades, there’s more mature market diversification that’s already bearing fruit in Australia & Asia. Facts of the matter there are that 90% of these countries _already_ have more trade with China than they do with the USA.
See the NYT 16 March 18 article “How the Rise of China is Challenging Longtime Dominance in Asia” (Max Fisher; Audrey Carlsen): in 2016 (e.g., latest available data), the trade balances for {Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Japan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India) **all** favored China over the USA, and since 2011 had increased for 14 of these 19 countries…
…and while the TPP may have helped the USA compete, that was spurned by the current Administration: China’s existing trade advantage has been growing for a half decade and without the TPP is now only going to increase even more, making the US increasingly less of a trade war risk for them – – even before anyone considers what could happen to the USA’s Economy if China were to be vindictive and dump a couple $T in US Treasuries on the World Market.
All in all, it isn’t about “replacing the USA” outright, but in developing enough alternative markets such that if the USA does something stupid and suddenly cuts off 33% of imports that the harm inflicted on suppliers to that demand is minimized. The facts are that China already responded to this threat years ago and is now in a position where the harm to them will be substantially less than the harm we inflict on ourselves.
And the Rare Earth elements should have been a warning to us – – just like how we’ve ignored how China has transformed their education & workforce to where they already have vastly more STEM graduates & workers. That’s why products like the iPhone are built there: they already have the manpower resources to throw 100+ Industrial Engineers at a twelve month project…
…because College Grads in Engineering in the USA averages only 60K/year, while China has been averaging 200K/year, which gives China a 3:1 advantage in STEM.
To put it another way, the USA has 1.6 million engineers in its workforce, but China already has twice that many who have graduated since 2002 and at present are only halfway through their career.
Dumping that much info on such a forum leaves me to conclude you don’t think much about others…you’d rather just pinch it out, regardless.
It’s likely I would have agreed with a fair portion or would have thought the material was interesting, but I don’t have the time for a short story, esp one that’s just likely copied/pasted.
Read it. You might learn something,
No. Trump has nothing to teach the people. All he does is regurgitate extremist talking points previously aired on faux news. Isolationism will accelerate the American decline. Makes no difference to the corporate billionaire class as long as they pocket the profits.
Why don’t you see where Trump is investing? Of course he doesn’t want you to know but it isn’t in American coal mines and steel mills. He’s put more money into emerging markets than in America
Your own good, yes your own nation first, toss away the rest of the planet and the rest of humanity. Forget being a team player anymore follow your selfish arrogance. No I don’t think that Apple’s home nation is the only one sick of WTO but those other countries aren’t having trading temper tantrums and trying to start a trade war. You see the WTO tries to offer something that your nation just cannot bear, a level playing field.
I’m pro free civilized world.
I intend to trot out the Iraq narrative for as long as you are there. Oh it’s silly and irrelevant is it? Then why is your country’s military still there scum, massacring people like the bully nation it is. Come on TowerTone, share your so much better than everyone else strong minded blinding rationale on how being in Iraq isn’t silly and irrelevant. I’ve already heard the WHAAAAAAAHHHH Iraq was involved in 9-11 and WHHHHHHAAAAAAA Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction program and BOOHOOHOO, Bin Laden is hiding in Iraq. So much whining. I heard also it was mission accomplished, so why are you still there?
Awww the poor citizen of a terrorist nation only defense left against Iraq is saying that it’s silly and irrelevant. I guess those gobs and gobs of innocent people your massacred are silly and irrelevant you. Actually it makes sense, if Iraq is pretty silly and irrelevant, it should come as no surprise to find so many of your fellow citizens there doing what is the trademark of you nation, a gutless cowardly bully of a nation that is addicted to war.
I’ll keep it going for as long as your scum bag nation continues to betray humanity because while you may find human life silly and irrelevant, I don’t. Gauging from the words of your current head honcho I think you are going to be in Iraq for quite some time.
“Because we’re so stupid”
– Donald Trump
Such stupidity has no place for the free and civilized world, but it sure is appropriate for Apple’s home nation at the moment.
That’s a reply to TowerTone’s post of Saturday, March 24, 2018 – 3:12 pm
you are a “scum bag”
Sure beats being a citizen of a terrorist nation.
proud to be a scum bag is no way to go through life the terrorists are coming for you be afraid
They’ve been coming for a while apparently.
Knock knock loser
Wrong door, but by all means try again, I’m not worried, I mean if you can’t find a weapons of mass destruction program after 15 years of slaughter I doubt you’ll find my door. Keep trying though, it’s very amusing.
Riad Warrior = liberal leffist anti-freedom scum who is a perfect example of why we need the first amendment.
We need to let the stupid people speak up so we know where they are what they are truly thinking.
Then we either engage with them to better understand their views, and to see if they can be reasoned with.
If so, great. If not, we know to avoid them and stop hanging around with the turkeys, many of whom end up as road kill on dangerous highways as they squabble amongst each other and gobble on the type on nonsensical anti-rational stuff RW has been crapping on about.
RW, thank for continuing to spout your views, it provides a great education to both the intelligent and the more simple minded.
I may disagree completely and entirely with your sadly misinformed and uneducated views but I certainly defend to the death your right to say them, and indeed, wholeheartedly encourage you to never stop letting us know, see and hear your maniacal views as they are extremely informative on how anti-freedom traitors think and feel.
Thanks for the insults, I’ll just turn the other cheek on those. The first amendment of your nation to me does not apply here. MDN is not a government organization and they can do as they please when it comes to moderating.
Nowhere is my stupidity better showcased then at the topic “Apple CEO Cook prays for victims, families, and loved ones of mass murder in Parkland, Florida”.
Yes stupid me offered some condolences to the victims, how moronic, especially in light of all other so much more intelligent posts and discussion that is there.
Yes, I’m stupid enough to show some respect life, of course the great fantastic minds of those from Apple’s home nation clearly demonstrated their level of intellectual prowess for that topic.
Because you took the trouble to challenge me, and because I took the trouble to listen, I found faith again. Thank you.
I’m glad that you’ve taken the time to think and reflect upon the issues and come to your own conclusion, whatever that may be.
Of course you were not making a barrage of insults to me so that obviously helped with the thought process.
I’m glad to see that you remembered what we talked about.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Thank you Road Scum for continuing to educate us on what a incy wincy dunce you are. You pollute this forum with your crap, but we welcome the freedom to speak, even as we ask God to forgive those who not know what they do or spew.
Peace be upon you because that is the God you deserve. Be thankful there’s a second amendment too because it protects us all.
The second amendment does not protect all it is part of a single nation’s constitution and as such is limited to the citizens of that nation.
right you have no free speech so stfu road scum
Or what? You going to post more insults and forego the topic? No wonder Cook is hoping that calm heads prevails, it’s sort of like expecting a miracel.
stfu!
No, what you going to do about it? Keep on whining? Oh yes so much whining. What a hoot.
what am I going to do about it keep pointing out you are lying road scum trashing the greatest country in the world. you lose again
Go ahead, you certainly have demonstrated no inclination to have a sensible discussion, just exuding vitriol. You make me laugh.
keep embarrassing yourself clueless anti American leftist I enjoy laughing at your sanctimonious STUPIDITY
“Because we’re so stupid.”
Donald Trump
no your sanctimonious stupidity trumps all
Oh you are so humble, but everyone knows Apple’s home nation is the stupidest country on earth.
ha! Where is apple from? your stupidity continues asshat
You don’t know what country Apple is from? What a laugh, hilarious. No wonder you can’t find a massive weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. HA HA HA.
talk about stuck in the past what a loser ha ha ha ha!
Yup I tell you a pathetic nation that is still murdering Iraqis looking for a weapons of mass destruction program is definitely stuck in the pass but even more, stuck in the present and the future don’t look too bright for you either.
I mean can’t even make a comment about the topic at hand. Go ahead, call me a liar, loser and all those other names you can muster. It appears that is all you are good for.
Such a patriot.
usa! 🇺🇸usa! 🇺🇸usa! 🇺🇸
no trump hater look at the record economic numbers in his first year that are undeniable
Thank you president Obama for the strong economy that continues to this day.
F*ck off citizen zero thank you president trump for ending eight years of a stagnant economy and despair thank you for hope and REAL change
Aaawwwww did someone hurt your feelings with a truth.
Is it just me or does this contrarian remind you of someone? I must say I see a very similar MO here.
I was thinking snot goeb actually.
i was thinking citizen x turd
I hope that is not the case as I’ve asked him a few times to no longer post to me, and he’s done the same. I feel it is certainly better for the MDN site overall if we don’t converse. At any rate without evidence to the contrary I’m going to stick with treating them as two separate individuals.
Thanks for quoting one of my favorite authors. Thomas Sowell.