Trump Adviser Admits He Lost China Trade War

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-china-tariff-adviser-admits-trade-deal-failed.html

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https://archive.li/IfCWl

One of the most underappreciated developments of Donald Trump’s presidency is that his strategy toward China was a total failure on its own terms. While Trump began his presidency as a snarling trade warrior, bent on ending Chinese manufacturing dominance, he ended his presidency as a whimpering apologist for Beijing.

The culmination of Trump’s standoff with China was a trade deal that supposedly committed China to purchasing $200 billion worth of American goods. Robert O’Brien, a former Trump national security adviser, admits that the Chinese never actually carried out their end of the deal. “I don’t think we’re going to see a deal like we saw in the first term,” he told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. “I think people were generally happy with phase one, but as it turned out, the Chinese didn’t honor it.”

At the time, Trump was trying to pump up the trade deal with China as the crowning achievement of his first term. His snarling rhetoric toward Beijing was supposed to be the setup to the deal, which he could then tout as ushering in a new period of friendship and prosperity. “One of the many great things about our just signed giant Trade Deal with China is that it will bring both the USA & China closer together in so many other ways,” he tweeted. “Terrific working with President Xi, a man who truly loves his country. Much more to come!”

The deal took shape just as COVID-19 was spreading in China, which is why Trump spent the first weeks of the pandemic insisting the virus was well under control on account of the Chinese Communist Party’s flawless and oh-so-forthright direction. (“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well.”)

*snip*