Finally, there are national security implications regarding the RAISE Act. When we ignore countries that are experiencing war, famine, and other major problems, other countries take our place. That is a major foreign policy problem, especially because it’s not France or the UK that would do that but China. They hate us, and they also support dictatorships and crush these countries with crippling debt obligations. In case you weren’t aware, China had a big hand in the collapse of Venezuela’s economy and Maduro’s rise to dictatorship. In exchange for that, perhaps Maduro will allow the Chinese military to have installations, equipment, or full bases in Venezuela, right near Aruba and a few hours flight time from D.C.
Additionally, national security often requires STEM, and we’ve already seen that RAISE Act isn’t foolproof, which means that the proportion of people educated in STEM will be mostly foreigners and the ratio of foreigners to Americans with significant and applicable experience in STEM will be even higher. Given that the Chinese government has already publicly announced its intention to take over Silicon Valley, there are serious problems here.
Finally, Trump’s plan to give us a trade surplus actually prevents us from winning a trade war. Typically, the world economy and, well, everybody, loses in a trade war. You know that. However, the individuals countries that lose the most in a trade war are those with trade surpluses. Trump would be better off timing which things he does first. Perhaps a trade war with China now and then a trade surplus later? Perhaps disentangle ourselves from the mess your company and many U.S. corporations created when they moved everything to China and then harm Chinese trade when they can’t do so much to harm us in return, and then go after your trade surplus.
So, I’ve presented a lot, but what can WE actually do about it.