Derek Scissors
On August 18, 2017, early in Donald Trump’s presidency, the US launched a Section 301 investigation of Chinese policies concerning intellectual property and technology. This was exactly the right thing to do. It was then transformed into something entirely different: tariffs unlinked to intellectual property violations, which was definitely not the right thing to do. Still, a policy crafted within seven months of inauguration guided the administration, from the Department of Justice’s work on trade secret theft to the United States Trade Representative’s “phase one” trade talks. It’s August 18th in the first year of the Joe Biden presidency. What’s the guiding China policy? Working with allies — toward what? President Trump wrongly emphasized the trade deficit, but President Biden hasn’t made a decision. That would guarantee failure.
Four years ago today we had a China policy | American Enterprise Institute – AEI
