Several months after the trade war with China, President Trump and his cabinet are interested in returning to the trade war with a more ambitious agenda than before. The President claims that China’s mishandling of the Coronavirus needs to be responded to. When asked how he intends to respond to China, President Trump claimed, “We could cut off the whole relationship.” Many believe such a reaction could negatively impact the United States economy.
“The Chinese government cut off all travel between Wuhan and the rest of China after recognizing that the virus was dangerous, but still allowed travel from Wuhan to America and the rest of the world. ”
This is an especially relevant concern as 36 Million Americans are already unemployed and many American companies are on the verge of bankruptcy. On the other hand, many Americans blame China for the spread of the Coronavirus and would like China to face serious repercussions. There are some grounds to both schools of thought. The Chinese government cut off all travel between Wuhan and the rest of China after recognizing that the virus was dangerous, but still allowed travel from Wuhan to America and the rest of the world. On top of that, the Chinese government failed to let American health inspectors assess Wuhan until the Coronavirus had already spread to the United States.
While China’s actions harmed the health of the American people, the repercussions of the virus are destroying the American economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (a prominent indicator of the health of the stock market) has already dropped nearly twenty percent from its high, and will likely slip lower if the United States attempted a trade war with China, the world’s second-largest economy. Investment commentator and former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer addressed this issue saying, “Why don’t we take them on six months from now? Why right now? We need to sell things.” The United States government seems to have decided that China must be held responsible right now. To begin their targeting of the Chinese Government, The United States Senate recently passed a bill sanctioning Chinese officials for their treatment of Uighur Muslims. They have also introduced a bill called the COVID 19 Accountability act which-if passed- would give Trump the ability to put various sanctions on the Chinese government if they don't cooperate with the US investigation into COVID 19. The state of Missouri has also announced plans to sue China over damages from the coronavirus. On top of this, the Trump Administration announced Friday that Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei would no longer be able to use any American technology in its phones. These new pieces of legislation demonstrate the growing amount of actions the United States is taking to punish and hinder the Chinese Government. How China will respond to America’s actions has yet to be seen, but it is clear that tensions between the two are rising.
BY: Ben Butcher
Sources: