US economic strength gives Donald Trump leeway in trade fight with China

It's clear that China has much more to lose" than the US from a trade fight

The US economy’s strength is emboldening the Trump administration to play hardball in its trade offensive against China.

Tariffs tend to be economic downers with an impact like sales taxes, which push up costs for consumers and businesses and slow growth. But so far it is tough to argue that the spat with China is having a broad macroeconomic impact.

Economic output in the second quarter is estimated by many economists to have expanded at a 4 per cent annual rate or more, roughly twice the pace of the nine-year-old expansion. The jobless rate, meantime, is near lows last seen