For U.S. goods exports, the deal is expected to cover products that accounted for $95.1 billion, or 73 percent of total U.S. goods exports to China ($129.8 billion) in 2017. Of the total exports of the subject products in 2017, exports worth $20.9 billion were made by agriculture, $66.5 billion by manufacturing and $7.6 billion by energy. Products that are not covered by the agreement and therefore do not have targets for 2020 accounted for 27 percent ($34.7 billion) of total U.S. goods exports to China in 2017. In August 2018, Hong Kong-based academic Willy Lam said the trade war had raised all the previous concerns of various Western countries about China and undermined the authority of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. [259] [260] Zhang Baohui, a professor of political science at Hong Kong`s Lingnan University, also said that the trade war has effectively challenged the myth of Chinese invincibility, saying the tariffs “really hurt China at a very bad time when the economy is in serious trouble.” [259] In August 2019, Trump`s trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed that tariffs were not harming Americans. Politifact called Navarro`s claim “trousers on fire.” [218] Although the agreement also sets targets for China`s purchases of certain services traded in the United States, this data is not reported monthly and is not covered here. The agreement also includes targets for 2021, which are not presented here. In September 2019, Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said the trade war had “lasted far too long” and was having detrimental effects on U.S.

businesses and consumers. He called on the Trump administration to end the trade war and reach an agreement to lift all tariffs. [246] Internationally, the Trump administration`s ultimate goal of changing China`s trade policy has been supported, while the use of tariffs and the negative economic impact of the trade war have also been criticized. Among U.S. industries, U.S. businesses and the agricultural industry have spoken out against the trade war, although most farmers have continued to support Trump. Among U.S. politicians, some disagree with the tactics trump uses, but most agree with the goal of putting pressure on China. [20] In late November 2019, none of the leading Democratic presidential candidates said they would abolish tariffs, including Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, who both agreed that the U.S. would have to confront what they saw as China`s unfair trade policies.

[21] In July 2018, academic Xu Zhangrun said the trade war had exposed the underlying weaknesses of China`s political system and criticized Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his “exaggerated pride” and “vanity policies.” [259] [260] At the 45th G7 summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “We don`t like tariffs overall. [336] An article in ABC stated that U.S. allies warned Trump during the summit of his trade war with China, but Trump said he was not under any pressure from his allies over the trade war. [336] European Council President Donald Tusk said the trade war risked causing a global recession. [337] When he supported the tariffs as president, he said China would cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars a year due to unfair trade practices. After imposing tariffs, he denied entering a trade war, saying that “the trade war was lost many years ago by the stupid or incompetent people who represented the United States.” He said the U.S. has a trade deficit of $500 billion a year, with intellectual property (IP) theft costing an additional $300 billion.

“We can`t let this continue,” he said. [30] [31] Former White House adviser Jim Schultz said that “the United States, through several presidential administrations – Clinton, Bush and Obama – naively looked the other way, while China cheated to gain an unfair advantage in the international trade market.” [32] This research guide provides selected sources of information for those researching U.S. trade with China. The target audience ranges from business politicians, academics, analysts, and businessmen to students and the general public interested in U.S. trade with China, especially U.S. trade policy with China. Since the 1980s, President Trump has often advocated tariffs to reduce the United States. The trade deficit and the promotion of domestic production, to say that the country is being “scammed” by its trading partners, and the introduction of tariffs is an important point of his presidential campaign. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] In early 2011, he said that because China had manipulated its currency, “it is almost impossible for our companies to compete with Chinese companies.” [27] At the time, Alan Tonelson of the U.S.

Business and Industry Council said china`s degree of undervaluation was at least 40 percent, saying tariffs were the only way to solve this problem: “Nothing else worked, nothing else will work.” [27] Investor uncertainty due to the trade war has led to turbulence in the stock market. [231] [232] [233] Domestic reporting on the trade war is censored in China. While news agencies are allowed to report on the conflict, their reporting is subject to restrictions; The South China Morning Post said Chinese media workers had been ordered not to “overstate” the trade war,[263] while a New York Times article reported that state news agencies had attempted to promote the official line, with authorities restricting the use of the term “trade war.” [260] Social media posts about the conflict are also subject to censorship. [264] [265] The trade war is a common topic on Chinese social media, with a popular internet meme referencing Thanos, a Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe villain who erases half of all life in the universe with the infinity glove and jokes that Trump will also wipe out half of Chinese investors. [266] [267] Ms. Tai and other officials acknowledged that the talks may not convince China to abandon its approach. Instead, they said, the administration would focus on strengthening the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, working with allies and diversifying markets to limit the impact of Beijing`s harmful business practices. Finally, despite the recovery in agriculture, it is worth remembering that the Trump administration wanted China to buy an additional $10 billion of U.S. agricultural products that it could not include in the deal. Annex 6.1, footnote b, of the Legal Agreement states (emphasis added): “At the request of the United States, China shall seek to purchase and import $5 billion per year of U.S. agricultural products covered by this Chapter, in addition to the minimum quantities set out in this Chapter.

(Including the additional $10 billion, U.S. exports would account for only 71 percent, not 83 percent of the target.) On 1 June 2018, following similar measures taken by the United States, the European Union filed legal complaints with the WTO against China, accusing it of engaging in trade practices that discriminate against foreign companies and infringe the intellectual property rights of EU companies. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said: “We cannot allow any country to force our companies to abandon this hard-won knowledge at its border. This violates the international rules that we all agreed on in the WTO. [330] U.S., European, and Japanese officials discussed a common strategy and took action against Unfair Competition from China. [331] [332] [333] Since the 1980s, Trump has advocated tariffs to reduce the United States […]