Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talks about the former president Donald Trump Washington’s China policy has left America “more vulnerable and more isolated” in the global economy, a rare blow from it against the Republican nominee for the presidential nomination.
Yellen, in a speech she will deliver Thursday evening at a U.S.-China Business Council event, said the Trump administration “has failed to invest at home in critical areas like infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies, while neglecting relationships with our partners and allies who were struggling to do so.” been forged and strengthened over the decades.
His comments come as the United States rebuilds its relationship with the Asian superpower, including a meeting in November between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco. The two countries agreed to curb the illicit production of fentanyl, a deadly component of drugs sold in the United States, and agreed to resume military communications.
Yellen, who rarely comments on the previous administration’s approach to trade, said Trump-era policies toward China “have left America more vulnerable and more isolated in a competitive global economy that demands that nations take exactly the opposite approach.”
“This damaged our global standing and resulted in significant missed economic opportunities for American businesses and workers,” she said.
In her speech, presented to the press ahead of the event, Yellen highlights the Biden administration’s strategy of strengthening relations with like-minded countries through “friendly support” with countries like South Korea , Vietnam, Japan, India and Indonesia.
“Over the last three years, the Biden administration has corrected course,” she said. “We are investing at home through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda,” citing, among other things, new laws on infrastructure, climate and semiconductors.
The Biden administration, however, has maintained some major Trump-era policies that punish China, including tariffs on some Chinese goods imported into the United States.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in May, Yellen said the United States was unlikely to lower tariffs.
“I can imagine that some adjustments are being made to streamline the fare structure, but my impression is that the general feeling within the administration is that it is not appropriate to lower the fares,” he said. she declared.
Additionally, Biden signed a decree over the summer, aimed at regulating and blocking U.S.-based high-tech investments destined for China, a move his Democratic administration said was based on protecting national security. And in 2022, the United States has moved block exports of advanced products computer chips in China.
Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell, said there are major differences between how the two administrations approach U.S.-China economic relations.
“The Biden administration has maintained a tough but constructive approach toward China, prioritizing national security considerations but also seeking avenues for cooperation and progress in areas of mutual benefit,” Prasad said. “The Trump administration has taken a more hostile and aggressive approach that has not been tempered by recognition of common interests between the two countries. »
The goods and services exchanged between the two countries represented a considerable amount $758.4 billion in 2022, according to the US Trade Representative. However, Chinese investment in the United States is down, at $28.7 billion in 2022, a decrease of 7.2% from the previous year.
