Why Trump’s ties with a Chinese state bank raise fears over president-elect’s ‘conflicts of interest’
Lawyers argue president-elect’s business ties with organisations including the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China could breach the US Constitution
The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, a state-controlled enterprise and the world’s biggest lender by assets, is due to renegotiate its lease at Trump Tower in Manhattan during Donald Trump’s presidency, a business matter that may raise constitutional questions for the incoming president, ethicists say.
The bank’s lease is slated to end in October 2019, adding its renewal to the list of potential conflicts of interest for president-elect Trump, who has vowed to slap steep tariffs on Chinese imports and declare China a currency manipulator.
The lease is no small matter for the Trump Organization. ICBC was Trump Tower’s largest office tenant as of 2012, occupying 11 per cent of its office space, according to mortgage documents filed by Wells Fargo & Co. that year.
The relationship between Trump and ICBC is one of the clearest financial connections between the president-elect and a foreign government and it highlights the potential conflicts of interest that could spring from his sprawling business empire. While presidents are exempt from many rules designed to prevent such conflicts, the US Constitution bars all US officials from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments under the so-called “emoluments” clause.
That clause has never been litigated, but it could be interpreted to extend to business transactions that are not conducted at market rates, said Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who was President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer.