Is President Trump the world's biggest threat?

World
Europe

01:39

“One thing to remember is that the president is not the only part of the US government. There is great dissent in our Congress with respect to leaving the WTO. Many people believe that the FART act will be dead on arrival and will not be legislated,” said Joel Trachtman, a professor of international law at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

President Donald Trump has reportedly ordered a bill that would declare the US has abandoned the fundamental World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, according to a leaked draft called the US Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act (also known as the FART Act) obtained by the US media website Axios.

However, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin has denied reports that Trump wants to exit the WTO, calling them wrong and exaggerated. Meanwhile, starting Friday on July 6, the US will begin to impose tariffs on 34 billion US dollars’ worth of Chinese imports, officially kicking off President Trump’s tariff plans for China.

“President Trump is scapegoating China and trade in general for a number of alleged problems, one of which is the trade deficit which is an artifact of the difference between domestic savings and investment rather than a result of trade policy per se. President Trump doesn’t really have a set of concerns that are real, though that’s not to say that the WTO doesn’t need some reform,” said Trachtman.

Trachtman stated that he thinks the US and China need to move forward, and doesn't believe President Trump is taking the right measures by imposing 34 billion US dollars worth of trade barriers, which could cause a series of problems for both countries.

However, Wallace Cheng, the director of the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development, pointed out that we have been ignoring the real problems, as Trump leads us by the nose.

01:51

“When Trump comes out, people seem to forget [...] the sustainable development goals by 2030. We need to end hunger, but everyone follows Trump’s narratives. — China wants to rise, China [will] challenge us. The solution I propose is that the EU and other countries need to recognize what are really the barriers to achieving the Agenda 2030 development goals,” he explained.

"The enemy is Trump. Trump is nationalism. Trump is a new fascism as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote as a warning," Cheng expressed.

He went on to say, "China contributed a lot to China but also in other countries. Down the road, China is upgrading its industry and technologies, benefiting not only China itself but also other developing and developed countries.“

Cheng concluded by saying that the EU still remembers how World War II started as a result of the British and French just appeasing Hitler. Therefore, if the EU continues to appease Trump, the signs are pointing to a new fascism, and he believes that is very dangerous.

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9:30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10:30 a.m. (0230GMT).