Donald Trump is, at least, a man of his word. Before he won the US election, Trump said that China had ‘really taken advantage of our country’ and vowed to slap punitive tariffs on imports from the People’s Republic. As we have repeatedly seen, Trump carries through on his threats. ‘Liberation Day’ saw China hit with 54 per cent tariffs as payback for what the president deemed unfair policies, the highest rate on any country.
Punishing US allies in Asia is not helpful for countering the threat from Beijing
That this is part of a wider move against Beijing was made clear this week when, in a leaked memo, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that ‘China is the [defence] department’s sole pacing threat’.
In the context of Making America Great Again, it is easy to understand why the US Administration would be targeting its main international rival. It is what every major power in history has done when faced with a rising competitor.
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