The U.S. economy is doing just fine, and that gives President Donald Trump the go ahead to keep up his aggressive trade tactics against China while the two countries try to suss out a new trade deal, according to CNBC’s Jim Cramer.
“Trump is set in his ways because he doesn’t see any weakening,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street” in reaction to the announcement Thursday that the U.S. and China will meet in October to resume negotiations. U.S. officials said talks were happening “in the coming weeks,” but would not confirm October, according to CNBC. The two countries were planning to meet at some point in September originally.
“The Chinese still need it more than we do,” Cramer said. That may be true, as a recent report showed China’s GDP hit it’s lowest point in at least 26 years in July when it shrank from 6.4% to 6.2%.
That’s in contrast with the U.S. economy, which is still chugging along at a steady pace. An ADP private payrolls report released Thursday showed moderate job growth, beating Wall Street predictions by a long shot with private payrolls growing by 195,000 compared to the 140,000 projected, according to CNBC. The Labor Department released its own report Friday, and it showed 130,000 added jobs, which was slightly lower than previous months but still solid.
“What I’m surprised at is how strong the consumer is,” Cramer said. Consumer confidence and spending were both up in July, but consumer sentiment has been shaken slightly as households begin to worry about the impact of tariffs heading into the holiday season.
Cramer also was dismissive on the weak manufacturing numbers, which many look to as a signal for recession. Manufacturing contracted for the first time in three years, according to a report earlier this week.
“Manufacturing has been in recession in this country for ages,” he said.
