Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump say they want to keep China in check. DW looks at the similarities and differences in their strategies — and how they could affect Asia’s biggest economy, as well as the world.
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00:00China is an economic power, and the two leading U.S. presidential candidates want to keep it in check.
00:07There's a rivalry between the U.S. and China.
00:10So what economic plans do Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have for China?
00:15Many Chinese believe Harris is arrogant and Trump a villain.
00:20Will the trade war between the U.S. and China intensify, and what does it mean for the world?
00:26Trump sees China as an enemy.
00:29If he wins, he is planning tariffs of 60% on Chinese imports, and that would make the goods 60% more expensive.
00:37If Trump were to impose tariffs on, say, toys,
00:41I mean, things that are quote-unquote harmless in terms of industrial policy,
00:46that's a different ballgame.
00:48Computers, you know, computers are a big item.
00:52So that would change, really, the nature of trade between the two.
00:56The objective would be to decouple.
01:00Trump seems to be dreaming of a long-gone 1950s USA, which had a strong manufacturing base.
01:08And he plans to further restrict technology transfer to China, for instance, by banning U.S. investments.
01:15The Chinese leadership, Xi Jinping himself, fears the absence or the constraints on technology transfer more than anything else,
01:24because that's the key for China to reduce its technological dependence from the U.S., to become self-reliant.
01:33Kamala Harris speaks of de-risking.
01:35That would be a continuation of the Biden administration's China strategy.
01:39It has, for instance, placed export restrictions on U.S.-made high-tech chips,
01:43and the White House also slapped tariffs on goods, including Chinese electric vehicles.
01:47It wants to protect domestic production and reduce dependence on the Chinese market.
01:56Inquiries in part showed that there was significant reliance on Chinese chips even in the U.S. military,
02:02and that that had to be considered a security risk.
02:08That's why it's not just about economic policy and competition.
02:12It goes way beyond that.
02:18While as vice president, Harris has been pushing for collaboration, which she hopes to continue as president,
02:24she has also been advocating for a hard line towards China.
02:29I will never hesitate to take swift and strong measures when China undermines the rules of the road
02:37at the expense of our workers, our communities and our companies.
02:42It doesn't matter who wins. It's hard times for China. But do the Chinese still have a preference?
02:48Because Trump is basically thinking of isolating the U.S. further from its allies, from Europe, from Japan,
02:57that gives China a niche, because the U.S. is much less powerful and scary for China in terms of containment
03:06if the U.S. isolates itself.
03:10That would also mean China would have free reign for its global economic expansion plans,
03:15despite a deeper trade war with the U.S.
03:18So how would the rest of the world be affected?
03:24It's quite amazing. Already now, Southeast Asia, actually even Japan, Korea, Taiwan and ASEAN,
03:34now their largest export market is the U.S. It's not China anymore.
03:39Because, you know, at the end of the day, it's very hard to keep that distance.
03:43On the one hand, the U.S. protects me. On the other hand, China is my main market.
03:48So I think countries will need to choose. That's what I mean by being squeezed by the two.
03:53Security interests come before trade, and that applies to both Harris and Trump,
03:59and both want their country to be on top technologically and economically, much like the leadership in Beijing.