President Donald Trump is trying to force China into agreeing to a new trade deal before the 2020 U.S. presidential elections or else be punished with higher tariffs should he be re-elected.
Trump's threat is being seen as a blatant attempt to blackmail China into directly helping him win re-election. Numerous U.S. election polls consistently show Trump losing the 2020 election to former vice president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party.
Biden has gone public as saying Trump's tariffs only hurt American consumers, farmers, and businessmen.
"The problem is that if & when I win, the deal they will get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now... or no deal at all," tweeted Trump.
Trump wrongly believes China is "taking advantage" of the U.S. when it comes to trade and sees China's trade deficit as proof the U.S. is "losing" the trade war.
He keeps claiming that if a Democrat becomes U.S. president in 2020, this Democrat will repudiate his trade war and return to the free trade policies that make for a peaceful and mostly non-contentious trading system where all countries benefit.
Trump also alleges China is in such bad economic shape because of his sanctions it's ready to make a deal with him.
"China is doing very badly, the worst year in 27 - was supposed to start buying our agricultural product now - no signs that they are doing so. That is the problem with China, they just don't come through. Our Economy has become MUCH larger than the Chinese Economy is the last 3 years...."
Rumors in Washington D.C. are rife that a deal to end Trump's trade war against China won't be reached until after the November 2020 presidential elections. Trump himself said this scenario was possible.
Trump on Saturday accused China of using stalling tactics to deny him a deal.
"I think that China will probably say 'let's wait,'" said Trump. "'Let's see if one of these people who give the United States away, let's see if one of them could get elected.'"
Trump also said China might be delaying a deal in a bid to wait him out in the hope a Democrat wins in November 2020.
He said the Chinese leadership is probably thinking, "Maybe we can deal with another dope or another stiff" instead of him.
Remarks made on Friday by Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, reinforced what Trump later said about the bleak prospects for any major breakthroughs coming from U.S.-China trade negotiations to start this week.
"I wouldn't expect any grand deal," said Kudlow to CNBC over the weekend. "Talking to our negotiators, I think they're going to reset the stage and hopefully go back to where the talks left off last May."
