What Trump actually means by a ‘bloodbath’ if he’s not elected

After setting that clear and unambiguous context, Trump then said, “You’re not going to be able to sell those cars, if I get elected. Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole … that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars.”

In all, the relevant part of Trump’s speech lasted about 17 seconds. But, in a clear effort to turn this pretty standard Trumpian message into a controversy, most all legacy media outlets based in the US have aired or quoted from a carefully edited 8-second clip that removes all the context related to China’s attempt to enter the US market with its EVs. 

Anyone with an ability to comprehend the English language – even as it is practised by Mr. Trump – will clearly understand he was warning his audience, many of whose livelihoods rely on a healthy US auto industry, of an economic bloodbath to come if incumbent president Joe Biden wins re-election. The implication of course being Biden would do nothing to fight China’s attempt to flood the US with its cars.

One definition for the word “bloodbath” provided by Webster’s online dictionary reads “a major economic disaster; a market bloodbath.” If recent history is any indication, we should expect Webster’s soon to be bullied into removing this definition from its website by the US government’s censorship establishment. But as of Monday morning it had survived, and this was, without any real question, exactly what Trump was referring to. 

So, how would China manage to invade the American market with its cheaper EVs?

It’s really not complicated. By building assembly plants for their autos in Mexico, China’s EV makers would be able to exploit a provision in the US/Mexico/Canada trade agreement that allows cars built in Mexican factories to be shipped into the US free of any tariffs. Indeed, most if not all US automakers operate Mexican plants of their own. This exemption from US tariffs would apply even though the Chinese cars would be assembled from parts and components made 100 per cent in China and were in every way indistinguishable from the same cars assembled in the Chinese homeland.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio is so concerned about this matter that he introduced a bill in early March that would invoke an additional tariff of $20,000 per unit on all Chinese cars, even if they are assembled in these Mexican factories. As quoted by Reuters, Rubio said, “America’s existing tariffs, once effective, are now insufficient to counter China’s newest strategies.” Rubio said his bill would be part of “a multi-pronged effort to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from entering the American auto market before it is too late.”

That is the exact issue Mr Trump was addressing, the context for his “bloodbath” remarks. He, like Rubio, wants to find a way to deny China the ability to invade and eventually dominate the US auto market in the same way it is currently starting to dominate the EU market for EVs.

This isn’t complicated or controversial, and shame on the US legacy media for pretending otherwise.