As the 2024 U.S. presidential election officially begins, the game between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the United States is becoming more and more intense. If we analyze the actual situation of the candidates of the Democratic and Communist parties at this stage, it is not surprising that current President Biden and former President Trump will serve as the presidential candidates of their respective parties, and the final battle will be held to see whether Biden will succeed in re-election or Trump will re-enter the White House. In order to increase his election advantage, Trump also directly used China as his "stepping stone", or sent a letter of challenge to China in advance. According to U.S. media sources, on February 4, local time, Trump made a special statement in an exclusive interview with Fox News on tariffs and Sino-US relations, and he made it clear in the interview that if he can successfully win the presidential election, then he will impose tariffs of up to 60% on all Chinese imports. However, Trump immediately changed his tone and deliberately emphasized that it is one thing to impose tariffs and another thing to launch a new trade war against China, and the two cannot be confused, and the United States will not launch a new trade war against China.
To be honest, Trump's statement is a bit incomprehensible, because in a sense, there is not much difference between imposing punitive tariffs and a trade war, which is often accompanied by a trade war between each other, or a means in a trade war, which is essentially using the country's comprehensive national strength advantage to force the other side to make certain concessions and compromises in trade cooperation. The reason why Trump's rhetoric about tariffs will be highly valued by the outside world is because during his tenure as president of the United States, he has imposed tariffs on Chinese goods many times, and the tariffs reached 25% at the maximum, and this policy has not been canceled until the Biden administration, which has seriously affected the follow-up economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States, and even the U.S. economy has been in a downturn until now, and the trade war between China and the United States is one of the core factors. Therefore, some analysts believe that Trump's so-called 60% tariff increase and not fighting a trade war are completely self-contradictory, and what he wants to achieve is to curry favor with both ends, on the one hand, he does not want to be overly strained with China, so that he can return to governance after taking office. On the other hand, they want to get the support of the right-wing forces in the United States to ensure a successful counterattack.
It is worth mentioning that Trump's description of Sino-US relations in the interview is also intriguing, he declares that he does not want to hurt China and wants to live in peace with China, because in his opinion Sino-US friendship is very good. In a sense, the six words "Sino-US friendship is great" are also his most direct answer to Sino-US relations, because many people have compared and analyzed it with the Biden administration and come to a conclusion that once Trump takes office, Sino-US relations will suffer a serious impact. This view is not unfounded, but has a certain basis. First of all, once Trump takes office, the economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States will inevitably be affected, and the impact of the trade war that occurred a few years ago has not dissipated, and no one can guarantee whether the current fragile economic model of the United States will be able to withstand this shock. Second, it is also an unknown factor that Trump will have a new attitude on the Taiwan issue. Although he has never made a clear statement on the Taiwan issue, and has even repeatedly declared that he will not send troops to "rush to help," no one knows whether the United States will have a new choice when the PLA takes over Taiwan.
It is true that he uses the six words "Sino-US friendship is great" to set the tone of Sino-US relations, but it does not mean that he will give up maintaining a tough posture towards China, and will not give up the strategy of encircling and suppressing China, and it is the unanimous consensus of the American political elite to regard China as the biggest "threat and competitor" of the United States, unless Trump does not want to be elected president of the United States, he will inevitably continue his basic policy toward China during his political period. It's just that now Trump's statement gives the illusion that he is more tactful than Biden. Perhaps in the eyes of many people, Trump belongs to the kind of politician who is open-mouthed, but we should also understand that as the president of a country, Trump's political wisdom is obviously better than that of many people, so every word and action of him must have its special meaning, and we also need to be vigilant and pay attention.