Donald Trump has unveiled specifics on how he would stabilize U.S. economic relations with China while prioritizing the protection of American businesses and workers as president.
“When Donald J. Trump is president, China will be on notice that America is back in the global leadership business and that their days of currency manipulation and cheating are over,” states a policy paper posted Tuesday on the Republican hopeful’s campaign website.
Trump, who devotes a significant portion of nearly every stump speech to addressing China’s currency manipulation, claims former President Bill Clinton’s “bold promise” that China’s inclusion in the World Trade Organization would bring prosperity to the U.S. has fallen flat, and that President Obama has done nothing to reverse the ill effects.
“It was not a good deal for America then and it’s a bad deal now. It is a typical example of how politicians in Washington have failed our country,” Trump states in his latest position paper.
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“We have been too afraid to protect and advance American interests and to challenge China to live up to its obligations. We need smart negotiators who will serve the interests of American workers – not Wall Street insiders that want to move U.S. manufacturing and investment offshore,” he adds.
Here’s how Trump would ensure American prosperity and restore “fairness” to U.S. trade with China as president:
On day one in office, President Trump’s Treasury Department would formally declare China a currency manipulator and force the Asian superpower to cease its devaluation of the yuan or “face tough countervailing duties that level the playing field.”
“Economists estimate the Chinese yuan is undervalued by anywhere from 15 to 40 [percent],” Trump writes. “Such currency manipulation, in concert with China’s other unfair practices, has resulted in chronic U.S. trade deficits, a severe weakening of the U.S. manufacturing base and the loss of tens of millions of American jobs.”
To strengthen America’s cybersecurity and curb China’s cyber-theft of U.S. intellectual property, Trump would adopt a “zero tolerance” policy against Chinese hackers and the country’s practice of forcing American companies “to transfer proprietary technologies to Chinese competitors as a condition of entry into the Chinese market.”
“If China wants to trade with America, they must agree to stop stealing and to play by the rules,” Trump states unequivocally.
Trump would intensify efforts to eliminate China’s practice of subsidizing its exports, a practice WTO officials have previously said is in violation of the organization’s guidelines. According to Trump, the illegal export subsidies “intentionally distorts international trade and damages other countries’ exports by giving Chinese companies an unfair advantage.”
“To gain negotiating leverage, we will pursue the WTO case and aggressively highlight and expose these subsidies,” Trump writes.
China would also be challenged to improve its labor and environmental conditions by Trump’s administration.
The billionaire businessman describes China’s current standards as “woefully lacking” and writes, “How can American manufacturers, who must meet very high standards, possibly compete with Chinese companies that care nothing about their workers or the environment?”
Finally, Trump plans to strengthen America’s negotiating position through tax reforms, spending reductions and increasing the presence of U.S. military in the East and South China Seas. He’s proposed a one-time taxation of corporate cash earned abroad at a 10 percent rate and a flat 15 percent rate on business income from “Fortune 500 companies to mom and pop shops.”
“A strong military presence will be a clear signal to China and other nations in Asia and around the world that America is back in the global leadership business,” he added Tuesday.
Trump is likely to address his plan for U.S. trade reform with China further during the fourth GOP debate Tuesday evening hosted by Fox Business Network. The billionaire businessman will take the stage at 8 p.m. ET in Milwaukee with seven of his Republican rivals. He’s in fourth in the Washington Examiner‘s latest power rankings.
