Some commentators have described Biden’s approach to China as a more competent extension of Trump’s, but that is incorrect. Trump’s interest in China focused solely on the trade deficit; he had little interest in geopolitics and none in human rights. Biden, on the other hand, has created a system of flexible containment with our allies in order to prevent the Chinese from using their muscle to dominate Southeast Asia; while he maintained Trump’s ill-conceived tariffs for domestic political reasons, his priority has been preserving our advantages in tech, not reducing the trade deficit.
If Trump wins the 2024 election, will he reverse Biden’s diplomatic successes and start obsessing about the trade deficit again? Will he offer Taiwan to the Chinese as a bargaining chip for American farmers? Will he once again insist that America must go it alone, because our allies do nothing but rip us off?
There is no reason to think otherwise.