What signal does Trump's SOTU address send on Sino-U.S. trade?

World
Europe

00:57

U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address on Tuesday, flaunting job figures, announcing a meeting with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un later this month, and calling on the Congress to choose "greatness" over gridlock.

High-level Sino-U.S. talks next week in Beijing are another issue topping the U.S. president's agenda. Trump mentioned the purposes of the talks – cutting deficits, creating jobs for Americans, and pressuring China to make structural changes.

"Speaking from a policy perspective, (Trump) doesn't have to argue so much about China-U.S. trade," Joel Rubin, president of Washington Strategy Group, told CGTN.

Rubin highlighted the consequences of the trade war, stressing that "President Trump did not talk about the impacts (of the tariff fight) on the American people" or "the impacts of the federal shutdown."

Rubin expressed confidence about China's role in the global market place.

"We need to figure out how to get the rules of the world right," Rubin said, adding that the international community should encourage inclusive trade dialogues, rather than those that would "push China away."

Gao Zhikai, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, echoed Rubin, saying that Trump is still misguided about the tariff war, which will only bring unfortunate results at the expense of ordinary people.

Gao stressed that China and the United States need to sit down and solve trade problems through negotiations for mutual benefits. In his State of the Union address, Trump also pledged to work with the Congress to pass an infrastructure bill for renovating the country's aging roads, bridges, airports and others.

Gao believes upgrading infrastructure in the United States is the right thing to do.

"I traveled extensively throughout the United States, and in many parts of the country, the infrastructure projects are really outdated, they need to be updated," Gao said.

"But how do you get the money? And how do you get the expertise to build up the infrastructure? China is probably the country which has built the largest infrastructure projects over the past two decades. China can become the partner to the United States rather than being sidelined," Gao stressed.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)