Politicizing trade will hurt Sino-US relationship
2017-08-18 09:13:02 source：Global Times
August 17, 2017
US President Donald Trump has given US Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer a year to look into whether to launch an investigation into
China's trade law, policies and practices. The US plans to apply the
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which empowers the president to
take trade measures against Chinese products such as lifting tariffs.
The
section has been seen as an obsolete tool for trade protectionism and
rarely used since 2001. People worry that a trade war between Beijing
and Washington is unavoidable.
Trump aims to kill two birds with
one stone. He is fulfilling his campaign promises to target China and
its alleged unfair trade practices. Once, he proposed a 45 percent
tariff on Chinese imports. In domestic politics, he has barely achieved
anything decent since he assumed power, so he needs to manipulate "China
agenda" to show his strength.
Read more: