August 18, 2026
The report from the Donald Trump administration saying that China is running a transhipment scam, while having some merits, reveals a bit of fear from Americans on the extant power of China.
Additionally, it also is laced with incendiary language that is unhelpful if there is to be a peaceful solution to the trade dispute between the largest economies in the world.
To say that a country is involved in a “scam,” as part of any report’s title, only leads to inciting ill feelings that will develop in every day Chinese people as grave insults to their people.
This is how wars start. The seeds of resentment and anger happens right here. Sure, China has been taking advantage of US trade policy. Sure, they have been dumping goods into the market.
But we should not make the matters any worse by labelling a people and inciting them into further deleterious trade behaviour on their part. The Trump tariffs and trade policy is enough for the world right now.
Hopefully, the World Trade Organisation can bring both parties to the table before it gets out of hand. Maybe President Trump will relent if he sees the chase is not worth the catch. Meaning, as we have seen China change its trade model to a greater transhipment model using other countries as a proxy, Trump may realize that putting tariffs on the world may hurt more Americans in the long run.