Deficits show trade 'win' simply wishful thinking

In yet another display of his ability to elasticize the truth, US President Donald Trump claimed in a tweet on Saturday: "Tariffs are working far better than anyone ever anticipated. China market has dropped 27 percent in last four months."

Yes, China's stock market has been performing poorly, but that was the case long before his administration launched its tariff attack on China's imports.

Analysts have attributed the decline to factors ranging from the government's efforts at deleveraging to corporate debt build-up. Fears that a trade war might erupt with the United States have exacerbated the nervousness of investors, but to cite the announced tariffs as a direct cause of China's bearish market - as Trump has done, with inflated figures - is to oversimplify things.