Advertisement
Will Trump’s retreat spur a grand bargain with China? Maybe, says former US commerce chief
The US president seems to want to move closer to Beijing, Carlos Gutierrez tells the Boao Forum
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
Dewey Simin Boao, Hainan
The Trump administration’s push for closer ties with Beijing could drive a “historic understanding” between the two countries as Washington retreats from multilateral institutions and global trade frameworks.
Former senior US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who served under George W. Bush, offered the assessment during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern Chinese province of Hainan on Thursday.
Gutierrez said he viewed US President Donald Trump’s administration as being “very transactional [and] almost tactical”, and the White House saw the trend towards world governance as a danger.
As a result, Trump has withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization and threatened to pull the country from the World Trade Organization.
But what was “very positive”, Gutierrez said, was that “there appears to be a desire on the part of the Trump administration, and very specifically President Trump, to move closer to China”.
“Unlike the first term when it was a tariff fight and rhetoric, I believe he’s seeing an opportunity to create a ... big agreement with China. A grand bargain. Something that puts the relationship on a new footing,” he said.
Advertisement