Trump's chest pumping with China, IMO, is just that, a show. In reality, the economics of him trying to push China into a corner....not in this lifetime.
China owns the United States, The Trade Deficit in 2017 was $375 Billion in 2017, but that's not the worst of it. China owns $1.17 Trillion in US Debt. What this tells me is The President goes off on these tangents all Willy Nilly not listening to those around him. Can you imagine the worlds reaction if China Started Selling off US Dollars, the world would follow! Now this strategy would hurt China, but I have always looked at it this way. The US needs China, sorry Requires China in order to keep Printing money.
And Print money the have:
The Fed's monetary base (M0) has skyrocketed from $820 billion in early 2008 to $3.5 trillion as of the last reserve reporting date on Nov. 21, 2018. Over the same period, excess reserves in the U.S. banking sector, funds banks can readily lend out, have followed a similar path from monthly averages of $1.5 to $2 billion to an astounding $1.7 trillion.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/03/the-us-needs-to-clean-up-its-monetary-excesses-and-twin-deficits.html
read the whole article, it's worth the read!
The United States has dug a hole and needs to find a way out, however a "Bully" economic Strategy could prove fatal!
TKB