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After Joe Biden election win, China will seek to renegotiate trade deal, Beijing advisers say
- Donald Trump’s phase one trade deal seen as ‘twisted’ in Beijing, leading insiders to predict an attempt at renegotiation under Joe Biden
- But US trade experts say it is unlikely Biden can do anything that could be construed as being soft on China
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Joe Biden’s US election victory will encourage China to try and renegotiate Donald Trump’s trade deal, viewed in Beijing as being “twisted” in Washington’s favour, according to advisers to the Chinese government.
The phase one trade deal was hammered out after months of painful negotiations and 18 months of trade war tariffs piling up on both sides. It saw China commit to buying US$200 billion in additional US goods on top of 2017 levels, but stopped short of forcing major structural changes to China’s economic model.
Even so, advisers see the deal as being unrealistic for China to implement, and view Biden as a more “rational and multilaterally minded” leader than Trump – despite former US officials thinking there is virtually no chance of Biden giving China a “softer” deal.
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Shi Yinhong, an adviser to China’s State Council, effectively the country’s cabinet, said Beijing would see it as in its interests to reduce the heavy import targets and reduce tariffs on exports to the United States.
Biden will sooner or later launch a renegotiation of the trade deal, as the current deal is unrealistic
“Biden will sooner or later launch a renegotiation of the trade deal, as the current deal is unrealistic. A renegotiation is also in line with China’s wishes,” Shi said, adding that Beijing would expect Biden to seek more structural changes in any renegotiation.
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