Chinese traffic police walk past a US embassy car parked outside a hotel in Shanghai on July 30, when negotiators from both sides were holding trade talks. Just days later, US President Donald Trump announced new 10 per cent tariffs on US$300 billion worth of Chinese goods, starting in September. Photo: AP

Opinion

Macroscope by Neal Kimberley

What is driving Donald Trump’s relentless trade war with China? Look to the 2020 US presidential election

As Trump eyes re-election in 2020, China and Chinese goods are fair game, as this resonates with his base
That he will be hurting US consumers is a risk Trump seems willing to take, but his actions may be pushing China too far

Neal Kimberley

Published: 11:00pm, 6 Aug, 2019

Updated: 4:15am, 7 Aug, 2019

Chinese traffic police walk past a US embassy car parked outside a hotel in Shanghai on July 30, when negotiators from both sides were holding trade talks. Just days later, US President Donald Trump announced new 10 per cent tariffs on US$300 billion worth of Chinese goods, starting in September. Photo: AP

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Neal Kimberley

UK-based Neal Kimberley has been active in the financial markets since 1985. Having worked in sales and trading in the dealing rooms of major banks in London for many years, he moved to ThomsonReuters in 2009 to provide market analysis. He has been contributing to the Post since 2015 and writes about macroeconomics from a market perspective, with a particular emphasis on currencies and interest rates.