Chief economist Stephen Roach said he found it “really curious” that U.S. President Joe Biden had put much of his predecessor’s policies on China into practice.
Roach, a senior member of Yale University, said Biden maintained the first-stage trade agreement between the United States and China “seriously flawed” and tariffs on China, but reversed many other policies enacted by the United States. former President Donald Trump.
“Why has he pointed to China-Trump policy as one worth maintaining, when he has literally tried to clear the board of any other potential Trump policy he inherited? This is an important question that needs to be answered,” Roach said. say Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
During Trump’s tenure, the United States and China engaged in a trade war that threatened to derail the world economy after both sides slammed retaliatory tariffs on each other’s products. The trade agreement of the first phase put a pause in the trade struggle, but did not push back these high tariffs.
Climbing US-China tensions
Relations between the US and China began with a rocky start under the Biden administration.
Last month, the first high-level meeting of the two countries began with an exchange of insults, and the United States, along with some of its Western allies, sanctioned Chinese officials and entities for human rights abuses in the United States. Xinjiang region.
Beijing retaliated against the US and its allies with its own sanctions.
Roach, who has been president of Morgan Stanley Asia, said he is “very concerned” about the escalation of US-China rhetoric.
“The situation is going from bad to worse and you don’t have to,” he said. “I think we need a more balanced approach from both the United States and the Chinese side to get back to the areas we have in common.”