There was a striking moment during Tuesday’s US presidential debate when Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of being soft on China.
It was a demonstration of how much Washington has soured on Beijing. For those with long memories, Trump imposed trade tariffs that were extended by President Joe Biden’s administration.
With China-bashing a rare point of consensus in America’s highly polarized political system, it’s a course that will likely be continued whoever wins the White House in November.
Some US allies, though, are growing less inclined to follow that path.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made that clear yesterday when he called on the European Union to drop its planned additional tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
He was quickly joined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government reiterated its opposition to the EU move. China is disputing the bloc’s decision, made on grounds of unfair state subsidies, at the World Trade Organization.
Germany and Spain are Europe’s two largest car producers, with Germany dependent on auto sales in China and Spain keen to attract Chinese investments to develop its own EV industry.
While there’s an obvious economic rationale for their move, it surely won’t go unnoticed in Washington.
The US has already imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs, and has made efforts to curtail Beijing’s access to advanced technologies a flagship of “Bidenomics.” In doing so, it’s twisted the arms of allies, notably high-tech producers in Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, to go along.
Japan’s reward? Biden opposes Nippon Steel’s planned $14 billion takeover of US Steel on what appear purely political grounds — US Steel is based in Pennsylvania, a swing state, and the United Steelworkers union rejects the deal. Both Harris and Trump are also opposed.
That’s a reality that won’t go unnoticed in Europe, either. — Alan Crawford