President Donald J. Trump and President Xi of China | November 8, 2017 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
There is increasing concern about the Trump administration’s trade policies. The Google trends chart for the search term trade war has more than doubled in recent weeks (though Kim Kardashian is still about 7X more popular).
President Trump says trade wars are easy to win. Maybe he has a point. U.S. stocks have held up much better than Chinese shares in recent months.
In all seriousness, investors should keep a close eye on future trade developments. Don’t forget though, view Trump’s actions through the lens of somebody who believes what he is doing is part of an ongoing negotiation. Trump has put pressure on the Chinese one week, and then relieved that pressure the next when the Chinese accommodate American demands. It appears the trade negotiation will be a process, played out on TV, rather than a closed door set of meetings. Stay tuned.
Jeremy Jones, CFA
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