>I'm American and kinda stunned how little salience the issue has. Please punish us as much as possible.
The majority of major economies are all exporters, it's only a few and mostly just the USA that is both large enough and willing to absorb their surpluses. Without the USA, the entire system collapses because nobody else is willing to run that deficit. You cannot have a room filled only with sellers.
The root of the dispute here is the right to freely sell to the USA while simulatenously pursuing their own protectionist tariffs and subsidies. When you realize the absurdity of a relationship which requires both parties to believe in different things, then it's also understandable that the gravy train has stopped and it's time to negotiate to a more realistic deal. Ironically enough, it's for the same reasons in their beliefs in protectionism that they won't be able to coordinate together.
The majority of major economies are all exporters, it's only a few and mostly just the USA that is both large enough and willing to absorb their surpluses. Without the USA, the entire system collapses because nobody else is willing to run that deficit. You cannot have a room filled only with sellers.
The root of the dispute here is the right to freely sell to the USA while simulatenously pursuing their own protectionist tariffs and subsidies. When you realize the absurdity of a relationship which requires both parties to believe in different things, then it's also understandable that the gravy train has stopped and it's time to negotiate to a more realistic deal. Ironically enough, it's for the same reasons in their beliefs in protectionism that they won't be able to coordinate together.