Donald Trump reiterates threat to scale back US economic ties with China
- President threatens to punish American firms that create jobs overseas and to forbid those that do business in China from winning federal contracts
- Trump has sought to make China an election-year issue, portraying rival Joe Biden as a lackey of Beijing
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Donald Trump again threatens to scale back US economic ties with China
US President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated threats by his administration to decouple the US and Chinese economies, pledging to reward companies that move their operations out of China and raising the possibility of halting business with the country altogether.
“We will make America into the manufacturing superpower of the world and will end our reliance on China once and for all,” Trump told reporters. “Whether it’s decoupling, or putting in massive tariffs like I’ve been doing already, we will end our reliance in China, because we can’t rely on China.”
“When you mention the word ‘decouple’, it’s an interesting word,” Trump said, stopping short of explicitly committing to a full termination of economic relations with China. “We lose billions of dollars and if we didn’t do business with them we wouldn’t lose billions of dollars. It’s called decoupling, so you’ll start thinking about it.”
Appearing to refer to action items for a potential second term in office, Trump said his administration would roll out a “made in America” tax break and impose “tariffs” on US companies “that desert America to create jobs in China and other countries.”
06:35
US demands for TikTok may escalate decoupling and hurt businesses, says China expert
The imposition of tariffs or other punitive measures against American companies would risk sparking opposition from many in the business community, who have already weathered a two-year trade war with China, on top of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.