Head over to Diligence China for a political trade-war conspiracy theory that rings scarily true: beating up on China is Plan B for the leading Democratic U.S. presidential contenders. DC’s argument runs like this: “If you’re Hillary or Barack, you have to have a Plan B in case Iraq starts tracking less negative…They both need to find an issue that won’t blow up in their faces – and it could very well end up being China…When the Dems stoke the fans of public fear and insecurity over China, Republicans aren’t gong to push back too hard. They are better on free trade then the Dems, but no one is going to win an election defending puppy-killers.”
Best hope is that the increasingly protectionist tone to the Democrats — especially those in the U.S. Congress — is election-season rhetoric and that Hillary, the most likely Democratic nominee, turns out to be just as much of a free trader as her husband, Bill.
