David Fickling, Columnist

Want a U.S. Recession? Try Trump’s China Divestment Plan

President’s trade war order for U.S. companies to get out isn’t just impossible; it would sink the economy.

August 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM UTC

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

Imagine Tesla walking away from this new factory in Shanghai. — Imagine Tesla walking away from this new factory in Shanghai.
Photographer: VCG/Visual China Group/Getty

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Is President Donald Trump serious about forcing American companies out of China? His advisers talk like it.

The president would have the authority for such a move, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic director Larry Kudlow said in television interviews while their boss was at the G-7 – though there’s “nothing right now in the cards,” Kudlow added.