President Donald Trump appeared to some observers to reverse his previous posture related to Chinese encroachment into the United States auto industry recently. During a September 11 interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, the President said, “If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I’d be okay with that.”

But is this really a position reversal, or a U.S. President publicly negotiating terms of conditions in advance of his upcoming meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who will meet with Mr. Trump during a formal state visit on September 24? The answer is all in the details. The President caveated his statement by saying he might accommodate Chinese cars being manufactured on U.S. soil but only if the Chinese companies agree to employ U.S. workers to make them.

“Japan does it, but they hire our people. The big thing is they hire our people,” he said.

It’s true: Japan does it, Korea does it, Germany........

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