President Donald Trump took a swipe at China's trade strategies and economic system during his address at the United Nations General Assembly. He justified the imposed U.S. tariffs as necessary to convince China to amend its trade and economic policies. Ultimately, he said the trade war he launched against Beijing and other countries are his way of safeguarding U.S. industries.
Elsewhere, analysts believe that the U.S. president's hard line against China is misguided and the trade war he started impacts the U.S. economy more than any country could be.
Trump's speech generally played with his objection against globalism and his approval of patriotism which did not sit well with the majority of the world leaders who listened to his address. The controversial president had even taken a swipe at the United Nations, justifying his aid cut to the organization.
In his speech, Trump said he has great respect and affection for Chinese President Xi Jinping. He then went about telling how the United States believes that trade must be fair and reciprocal and that the nation refused to be taken advantage anymore.
At first, he discussed the matter without directly mentioning a country. He said the United States, being the largest economy in the world, has been allowing foreign goods from all over the world to flow freely across its borders. Other countries, however, failed to give the mutual openness to trade.
He then criticized the World Trade Organization, saying that it admitted countries that violate the very principles that WTO is promoting. Trump alleged that these said countries used government-run industrial planning and state-owned enterprise to rig the system in its own advantage. These countries are allegedly guilty of product dumping, forced technology transfer, and the theft of intellectual property.
Trump then alleged that his country lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs, almost a quarter of all steel jobs, and 60,000 factories after China was admitted to the WTO. He said the U.S. has amassed up to $13 million in trade deficits over the last two decades because of this development.
Trump emphasized that his administration will continue to promote policies that will push America's national interest.
The president's speech actually had an extremely awkward start. He began by saying that America's economy is booming like never before since his election - to which the audience erupted with laughter.
Trump shifted away from his written speech and admitted he did not expect the crowd's reaction but said he was "okay."
He then picks up his composure and declared that he added $10 trillion in U.S. wealth. Trump continued by saying that the U.S. stock market is at an all-time high in history and unemployment is at a 50-year low. The drop in unemployment was also observed with the African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American communite4s, he said. He said his administration added more than 4 million new jobs, including half a million manufacturing jobs.
Trump's speech at the UN took place a week after he announced new tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese-made goods. The Business Times previously reported that U.S. tariffs already in effect had impacted a total of $250 billion of Chinese imports.
