'Trade War to Get Tougher After Election', Trump Warns China

U.S. President Donald Trump warned China on Tuesday that if he is re-elected in the next 2020 elections, he will be "much tougher" when negotiating trade agreements; until then, he holds, the Chinese economy will "crumble."

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“We are doing very well in our negotiations with China. While I am sure they would love to be dealing with a new administration so they could continue their practice of 'ripoff USA' ($600 B/year), 16 months PLUS is a long time to be hemorrhaging jobs and companies on a long-shot,” Trump tweeted.

“And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get MUCH TOUGHER! In the meantime, China’s supply chain will crumble and businesses, jobs and money will be gone!.”

These statements come just two days after the U.S. fulfilled its promised rise in tariffs on Chinese imports and since then applies a 15 percent tax, five percentage points more than what it had initially announced, to Chinese imports for US$112 billion value.

On Sep. 1, the U.S. began to implement a 15 percent tariff on Chinese imports, which was a five percentage points increase from the figure initially announced. In the short term, this measure will be applied to at least US$112 billion of Chinese products.

For Dec. 15, according to estimates from the United States Trade Representative(USTR, the new tariffs are expected to affect US$300 billion of Chinese goods, including products such as mobile phones, computers laptops, video game consoles and toys.

In response to these new sanctions, China set tariffs, ranging from 5 and 10 percent, against U.S. products valued at US$75 billion.

To justify his growing trade war, Trump has pointed out that trade measures are aimed at improving his country's trade balance with China, a result that has had little or no result so far. On the contrary, empirical evidence shows a worsening trend towards economic recession​​​​​​.​​​​​

In August, manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in three years, with new orders and hiring declining sharply as trade tensions weighed on business confidence.

The National Factory Activity index dropped from 51.2 in July to 49.1 in August, the Institute for Supply Management holds, explaining that a figure below 50 indicates a contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy

For its part, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that his country is entering a period where it faces "concentrated" risks which will be overcome through a "resolution" struggle.

"As long as it comes, we must carry out a resolute struggle, and we must achieve victory," he said and added that challenges to Chinese interests “will become even more complex."