Why a Trump election win could mean new uncertainties and ‘very confrontational’ China-US relations

Name: US proposes new round of tariffs on China in latest trade war escalation
Uploaded: 2024-05-28T08:00:11.000Z
Duration: 1 min 52 s
Description: US proposes new round of tariffs on China in latest trade war escalation

As US election looms, Jia Qingguo says tariffs against Chinese goods are more ‘political’, but tougher policies could be imposed under Donald Trump

Peking University scholar expects cross-strait relations to remain in a ‘deadlock’ under Taiwan’s new leader

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Former US president Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on May 1 in Wisconsin. A recent poll has Trump and President Joe Biden tied in the state. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Kawala Xie

Published: 4:00pm, 28 May 2024Updated: 11:59pm, 29 May 2024

China has open communication channels with US President Joe Biden’s administration to manage sticky issues, but bilateral ties could become more “confrontational” if former president Donald Trump is re-elected, according to a top Chinese international relations expert.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, Jia Qingguo, a professor and former dean of Peking University’s school of international studies, said the existing working group mechanism between the two countries had allowed them to address their differences, but Trump could impose tougher policies, including possible challenges on one-China.

Biden, who will face a rematch with Trump in November, has added US$18 billion in tariffs on Chinese products, including Chinese steel, aluminium, and electric vehicles, to protect American workers and boost manufacturing at home, policies that he hopes will help him win re-election in November.

Jia Qingguo says Trump could impose tougher policies, including possible challenges on one-China. Photo: Peking University

Jia said Biden’s tariff move had more “political” meaning than substance in a US election season. Trump, who has a strong voter base among manufacturing workers, also promised to impose a 60 per cent tariff on all Chinese products and target Chinese cars made in Mexico.

“It is a preventive measure, it is more for the sake of having a certain advantage in the election,” said Jia, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Some of the measures recently announced by Biden appeared to be tough, but actually did not account for a large portion in China-US trade. China already exported very few electric vehicles to the United States, he added.

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US proposes new round of tariffs on China in latest trade war escalation

The US imported only 12,362 electric vehicles from China last year, imports that were already under a 25 per cent duty, which will rise to 100 per cent on August 1. The new tariffs targeted a small number of products, accounting for only 4.2 per cent of all US imports from China, according to a report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.