Is Trump ready to play the 'China threat' card, again?

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Europe

By CGTN’s The Point

US President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday. With the theme of “Building a safe, strong and proud America” and the aim "to clarify about our friends and adversaries," experts say recent actions taken by the Administration against China’s trade performance are very likely to climb onto the list.

“I think the first question is what the US is really concerned about,” said Timothy Stratford, managing partner at Covington & Burling LLP’s Beijing office. “I think what the US is concerned about is the fact that China’s economic system is fundamentally different from the assumptions underlying the WTO system.”

“China has become big enough and have become so committed to these tools that the current relationship is not sustainable. Then we need to do something”, Stratford added. “I think we have to see whether the US is giving up on working with China – which would be a very drastic and difficult thing – or trying to work with China.”

Last week, the US Trump Administration announced new tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. Most solar panels in the US come from China, the world’s leader in solar power production.

China reacted strongly over the new tariffs, saying it will “resolutely safeguard” its economic interests.

China-US trade war / CFP photo

Zhang Jianping, director general of the Center for Regional Cooperation, at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, thinks those moves by the Trump Administration are mainly just “political tools.”

“I think both the US and EU should implement China’s access to the WTO,” Zhang pointed out; “and China has already made promises to reform further, as Liu He, the Chinese representative in the Davos Forum, claimed.”

“But China is still a developing country, and it needs time to promote the reforms. That should not be the reason for trade friction and trade protectionism (from the US),” Zhang added.

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).