In light of the huge U.S. tariffs imposed on China,

Chinese officials announced this week that the country no longer needs energy or agricultural exports from the United States.

We need a new system. We need a new society.

We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible even a few weeks ago,

but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. We are very excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us again for our regular weekly segment,

where we talk about the biggest stories related to the economy, the state of the working class, and the crimes of big business.

I'm your host, Brian Becker.

The Socialist Program brings you content several days a week. Thanks to the support of our patrons at

patreon.com forward slash the socialist program. If you're not a patron and you like to show,

become one today. Richard Wolfe is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. He's the author

of many books, including understanding capitalism, which is available at Democracy at Work.Info.

Professor Wolfe, welcome back.

Thank you very much, Brian.

Glad to be here.

Well, the issues here, Richard, related to the economy to global trade, couldn't be more impactful.

Of course, they're impactful on China, especially impactful

on global South countries that are basically living inside of an export-driven economy that's dependent

on the U.S. market. Of course, they're facing huge unemployment if these tariffs go through.

But China also is retaliating,

and China says we're big enough, we're developed enough, we're committed enough,

that we're not going to be bullied by Trump. I want to read to you a little bit from Financial Times. Chinese official Zhao said that U.S. agricultural imports were, quote,

primarily for feed grains, which were highly substitutable, meaning they could be replaced,

...