Is a US-China trade agreement really possible?

Yes, a US-China trade agreement really is possible. There is one already in place from the previous Trump presidency that the Chinese stated the Biden administration did not enforce. If something isn't enforced, then of course a child or dishonest political regime is not going to do it.

Trump is enforcing the current trade agreement from several years ago and China is going to be punished for cheating by now being forced to open up to more US goods being sold there to try to equal out how much the US buys from China. (Trade deficit.)

China has already laid out a plan to slow/stop the flow of fentanyl from China into the US via Canada and Mexico. China executes drug traffickers inside the country and it's easy to predict they will begin to execute people who are making fentanyl there and moving it to the US.

Oh, and inflation in the US is down while tariff $ coming in has doubled year over year. By the end of the year, income taxes will be lowered for US citizens as an offset to the extra tariff funds. (Tariffs were what the US government used to fund itself while the federal income tax was not enacted until over 100 years later so this is nothing new, except this time these are reciprical tariffs levied on countries that have taken advantage of the US for decades, but are now being forced to negotiate since they wouldn't negotiate without being forced to.)

The goal is to close the IRS, stop taxing tips, stop taxing social security, return illegals to their own country, etc. Basically, shrink government spending so the US can get out of debt.

Of course, no one is asking why China sold a few billion dollars in gold to raise money. What is that money going toward? Maybe it's being spent to control the worker riots from manufacturing businesses closing? Communists must save face or risk losing out to freedom.

As admirable as closing the IRS is, it is but a pipe dream. It’s not only not feasible ( and certainly not on the revenue intake from tariffs) it’s also questionable as to who are the major beneficiaries from this trial experiment.

So , let’s all applaud a further stealth tax on all citizens of the US whilst touting “the tax cuts for all “narrative.

There must be some naive, gullible people in the US .

I was going to give a , but that would appear to suggest I agree with the sentiment “ you’re not too bright “ . I know otherwise, maybe though we’re both “ thickies “ for not following blindly.

Here's how it all works together:
https://www.hudsonbaycapital.com/doc...ing_System.pdf

Not to undermine the narrative but there's something I have wondered about tariffs....

I'm sure this exists somewhere: what was the budget of the government during the time tariffs were used in place of income tax vs. today? I'd be interested to know how much we'd need to raise in tariffs to compensate for the other proposed policies.

I thought, and I could be wrong, that government spending during the McKinley era was something like 3% of GDP vs 20%+ today. I would need the actual numbers though. My impression is that even if we cut 20% of government spending (which is impossible without defunding the military, and/or cutting into social security/Medicare/Medicaid), the tariffs aren't going to do much of anything.

Don't get me wrong, something HAS to be done to help reduce spending and bring in more revenue, BUT, I just haven't been sold on exactly how a partially (or fully) levied consumption tax (tariff) is supposed to reduce the deficit, pay down the debt, and reduce our taxes in any meaningful way. This is especially true if the goal is to "ideally" (not that the administration actually believes that is possible) get tariffs to zero by reshoring manufacturing (i.e. no income from tariffs in that case).

You...have...no...IDEA how naive the majority of the population is!

Then again, the market is supposed to be really smart....and yet, bonds down, gold/silver down, stocks up...so apparently it is suggesting growth is here, tariff impact is negligible, minimal/no concern of recession, and full steam ahead?? I wouldn't have guessed that, so perhaps I am also a bit on the unintelligent side.

It certainly felt like that on the 12% up day, the 5% up day, and currently after seeing the "good time to buy" and "stocks will rally" commentary. Then again, buying into rallies after 20% up moves from lows has never really been successful for me, so........

A U.S.-China trade agreement should be possible. Both countries have deep economic interdependence, which gives them incentives to cooperate. However, the relationship is increasingly shaped by strategic competition, not just trade deficits or tariffs. Issues like intellectual property, tech transfer, and geopolitical tensions over Taiwan make a comprehensive deal harder to reach. That said, limited or sector-specific agreements—especially around climate tech, or semiconductors—remain on the table if both sides see mutual benefit. It's less about a sweeping deal and more about targeted, pragmatic cooperation.