Harry Broadman, a former assistant U.S. trade representative in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, tells Politico that China proved to be much less of a pushover than the Trump team expected it to be when they started to impose tariffs. “Whoever is advising him clearly does not understand China.”
Politico:
Former high-level trade officials experienced with Chinese negotiation tactics said Trump’s expectation that Xi — like Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and now-former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — would drop everything and pursue tariff relief was misplaced.
“Trump thought that China was a pushover and so he behaved like a New Yorker saying ‘let’s do a deal,’” said Harry Broadman, a former assistant U.S. trade representative in the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. “Whoever is advising him clearly does not understand China.”…
The Chinese government is willing to roll back tariffs on specific U.S. imports deemed essential to the Chinese economy, including pharmaceuticals, Reuters reported Friday. But it’s unclear whether Beijing is ready to broker a one-on-one meeting between Xi and Trump to fast-track wider tariff reductions and lay the groundwork for a new trade deal.
“They know Trump is in an untenable position and are letting the Energizer Bunny run down his batteries while they sit on the sidelines because they think they gain nothing by addressing him,” said Broadman. “Trump’s behavior is antithetical to the way they believe leaders should behave.”
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