US-China trade dispute is the next Cold War: Fmr. Commerce Department deputy director
Former Commerce Department Deputy Director Chris Garcia believes that the U.S.-China trade war may be the next Cold War for America.
“This could very well lead to the next Cold War for the United States, between the United States and China, and Americans have to unite,” he said on FOX Business’ “Making Money with Charles Payne Tuesday. “We have to build a coalition of the willing with our allies around the world and this has to be U.S. policy that transcends multiple administrations, not just this one.”
Garcia said the Chinese are stretching out the trade negotiations with the U.S. to get a better sense of who may become the next U.S. president in 2020.
“China is going to try to run the clock out on the Trump presidency. We have already seen it in the past when they agreed to stop stealing American intellectual property when they signed an agreement in 2015,” he said. “After the Obama administration transitioned to the Trump administration, they thought, ok, it's a restart, it’s a refresh. Let’s try with a new president, let’s keep taking advantage of Americans.”
China is paying a close attention to the markets and are likely intimidated by the success in the U.S. economy, according to Garcia. Therefore, he says that now is the perfect opportunity to finally push back against Beijing.
“They know we’re at a peak in the United States at our business cycle. We’re doing exceedingly well. Our economy is red hot thanks to President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the deregulation actions, but that’s exactly why right now is the time to push China [because] China is going to try to do what they've done in the past.”
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Garcia puts the onus on the previous administrations for failing to find a trade balance between the world’s two largest economies.
“The last three administrations could have dealt with this problem but they decided to kick the can down the road, [and] not deal with the China problem, and today here we have new emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence, 5G, facial recognition. Things that can actually, if they are stolen [by the Chinese] can be used against the United States,” he said.