Trump Announces New Economic Plan Against China

What’s happening: Largely a callback to his administration’s protectionist policies, former President and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump’s just-announced trade policies include a universal baseline tariff on foreign products and plans to decrease American dependence on China via the removal of its “Most Favored Nation” trade status.

Global trade: Trump argues the tariffs would increase the cost of Chinese goods, while lowering taxes on US production would lower the price of domestic goods, shifting America away from China and creating domestic economic growth.

China and the four-year plan: As part of revoking China’s Most Favored Nation trade status, Trump announced a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods. He also announced plans for a federal contract ban on companies outsourcing labor to China.

On Biden: Trump heavily criticized the Biden administration in his announcement, asserting that Biden bears responsibility for “pushing the same pro-China globalist agenda that ripped the industrial heart out of our country.”

Zoom out: Though the Biden administration has taken steps to curb China’s militaristic aspirations through the chip sanctions and a hardline Taiwan positioning, Trump’s criticisms resonate as American trade with China just hit an all-time high. His promises are also now more feasible than they were before—Trump had made an initial effort to push manufacturing to India and away from China during his administration, and that shift is now happening.