On September 10, 2024, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clashed over China policy during a presidential debate hosted by ABC News on Tuesday night.
Trump defended his recent vow to raise trade tariffs, including a blanket tariff of 10% to 20% and additional tariffs of 60% to 100% on China.
“In 75 years, other countries will eventually repay us for what we have done for the world, and the tariffs will be huge,” the former president said, adding that his administration had received “billions of dollars.” dollars”.
He also pointed out that the Biden-Harris administration maintained most of the Trump administration’s tariffs on China.
“They never lifted the tariffs because it was too much money. They couldn’t and it would completely destroy everything they set out to do,” he said.
Trump also played down concerns that his tariffs would raise consumer prices.
“What’s going to happen and who’s going to get the higher price is China and all the countries that have been cheating us for years.”
At the same time, Harris believes that the Trump administration is weak toward China.
“During Donald Trump’s presidency, he ended up selling U.S. chips to China to help them improve and modernize their military,” Harris said, an apparent reference to the current administration’s increased efforts to restrict the sale of advanced semiconductors to adversaries.
“(He) basically betrayed us, and China policy should be about ensuring that the United States of America wins the competition in the 21st century,” she said.
“What that requires is focusing on relationships with our allies, focusing on investing in American technology so we can win the race, focusing on artificial intelligence, focusing on quantum computing, focusing on what we need to do to support the American workforce.”
Economists and policy experts previously told CNBC that Trump’s economic policy toward China in his second term is expected to focus on high trade tariffs. By contrast, Harris is expected to focus more on targeted restrictions coordinated with U.S. allies.
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