We can cross "stood up to China" off the list of supposed great things the Very Stable Genius did

 You know how Trumpists would - and still do, at least among the bitter-enders - at some point in a discussion of the VSG's fitness/unfitness for office toss out a list of what they were utterly certain were his great achievements as president? 

After about three or four that they know a conservative would agree on - judicial appointments, deregulation, embassy to Jerusalem - the list would start to get pretty shaky. One item that would always show up is "stood up to China."

Yeah, well, maybe it's time to take that one off:

Driving the news: China isn't even close to fulfilling its end of the deal — having come up 42% short of its commitment, Chad Bown, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, reported late last week.

• The phase one deal was meant to be the Trump administration's reward for U.S. farmers, manufacturers and other business owners who had been bludgeoned by Trump's tax on American businesses via the trade war's tariffs.

What was supposed to happen: The trade war was billed as a plan to bring China to its knees by choking off the all-important American market with 25% tariffs on many imports that would rein in the U.S. trade deficit, boost American exports and slow China's rise as a global superpower.

What really happened: "The trade war with China hurt the US economy and failed to achieve major policy goals," a recent study commissioned by the U.S.-China Business Council argues, finding that the trade war reduced economic growth and cost the U.S. 245,000 jobs.

• Last year, the U.S. trade deficit widened to its largest on record. In the fourth quarter, the U.S. goods trade deficit hit its highest share of GDP since 2012 and the U.S. current account deficit jumped to its highest level in more than 12 years in the third quarter.
• Foreign direct investment to the U.S. fell 49% in 2020 — outpacing the overall global decrease of 42%.
• These trends had all been moving in this direction since 2017, and were accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic as Trump refused to remove tariffs despite their strain on businesses.

The big picture: "The tariffs forced American companies to accept lower profit margins, cut wages and jobs for U.S. workers, defer potential wage hikes or expansions, and raise prices for American consumers or companies," analysts at Brookings noted in August.

This is yet another example of how Trumpists' characterization of their object of worship and the movement to which they belong is in no way conservative. 

Not all conservatives are purists about advocating free-market economics, but most see it as at least a lodestar, even if adjustments must be made in an imperfect world. But rank protectionism is not part of any conservative's economic policy. It's a distortion of the free market with the purpose of  having some vague notion of "putting America first." 

No, we can see that it is among Trump's greatest bungles. The guy had no idea what he was doing. Same goes for Peter Navarro and Wilber Ross.