To win China trade war, Trump needs allies

Following the recent collapse of trade talks between the United States and China, leading to an escalation of their ongoing dispute, Beijing again lashed out against America and its president, Donald Trump. As reported by CNN and other international outlets, Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily - two of the Communist-ruled country's chief propaganda machines - published an editorial arguing that the US was fighting for "greed and arrogance" while China only fought to defend "its legitimate rights and interests."

In particular, that commentary, which contained strong and nationalistic language, said: "The trade war in the United States is the creation of one person and his administration who have swept along the entire population of the country. Whereas the entire country and all the people of China are being threatened. For us, this is a real ' people's war'."

Though it didn't mention Trump by name, the editorial was a direct rebuke of, and a personal attack on, the 72-year-old president.

In August last year, when Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff increase on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, the People's Daily launched a fierce and personal attack on him, accusing the businessman-turned president of starring in his own "street fighter-style deceitful drama of extortion and intimidation."

Certainly, America's 45th president is assuming a very tough posture toward China - in both rhetoric and policy. Of America's recent presidents, he is, without doubt, the most critical of China's practices and policies in trade matters. As a presidential candidate, he accused China of "raping" America. After his election,

for the first few months in the White House, he sought to flirt with China and its paramount leader, President Xi Jinping, with the aim of persuading Beijing to change its behavior. Since this failed, he has consistently maintained a hardline posture vis-à-vis the Asian behemoth. To this point, the US has followed through on all of his tariff threats against China.

What's notable is that, though he is a divisive figure and many of his domestic and international policies are controversial, his antiChina stance has broad bipartisan support. Some senior American politicians have even accused him of not being tough enough against China.

In March last year, when Trump signed a "presidential memorandum targeting China's economic aggression," Nancy Pelosi, thenHouse minority leader, issued a statement saying: "The United States must take strong, smart and strategic action against China's brazenly unfair trade policies." It added: "Yet, today's announcement is merely a start, and the Trump administration must do much more to fight for American workers and products."

That's why the statement by Pelosi, who is now the speaker of the US House of Representatives, while praising the "report of the USTR [US Trade Representative] investigation on China's intellectual property theft" as "a good first step," made clear that "far more is needed to confront the full range of China's bad behavior."

Other top lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, businesses leaders and foreign policy experts likewise expressed their strong support for Trump's move against China.

For instance, Schumer lauded him for proposing "a plan designed to punish China for its most flagrant trade abuses" and expressed his delight that the Trump administration "is taking strong action to get a better deal on China" because he had "called for such action for years and been disappointed by the inactions of both presidents [George W.] Bush and [Barack] Obama."

Three months later, when Trump announced a 25% tariff on $50 billion of goods, he said: "The president's actions on China are on the money. China is our real trade enemy, and their theft of intellectual property and their refusal to let our companies compete fairly threatens millions of future American jobs."

In February this year, when the Trump administration was reportedly nearing a trade deal with China, Schumer warned the Republican president not to settle for a weak deal with Beijing, saying "Shame on him if he does." Addressing Trump directly, the New York senator cautioned: "It would be a momentous failure if you relent now and don't receive meaningful, enforceable and verifiable commitments on structural reforms to China's unfair trade policy." The top Democrat in the US Senate also said the US "business community does not want our president to capitulate."

Earlier this month, when Trump threatened to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%, the top Democrat in the US Senate again urged the president to "hang tough on China," stating: "Strength is the only way to win with China."

All this shows that while it may be true that Trump's tariff war against China "is the creation of one person [i.e. Trump] and his administration," it's undeniable that the president's strong criticisms of - and his pushback against - the Asian power is widely supported by the American public, businesses and politicians across the political spectrum.

Other international observers and leaders, including the leaders of Germany and France - three key allies of the US - are likewise concerned about China's unfair trade practices.

On March 22, 2018 - the exact day Trump signed the memorandum targeting Beijing's "economic aggression" - the UK-based Financial Times editorialized: "China routinely steals intellectual property on a vast scale, illegally hacking foreign companies. It also massively distorts its own economy with subsidies and regulation, building up overcapacity in steel and other manufacturing."