US VP debate: Harris says Trump ‘lost’ trade war with China – Times of India

WASHINGTON: Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris has said that US President Donald Trump “lost” the trade war with China and claimed that it resulted in the loss of 300,000 manufacturing jobs in America.
The 55-year-old California Senator, during the only vice presidential debate on Wednesday night with Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the November 3 presidential election, criticised the economic policies of the Trump administration in the last four years, especially the US-China trade war.
“The Vice President earlier referred to it as part of what he thinks of it as an accomplishment, the President’s trade war with China. He lost that trade war. He lost it.
“What ended up happening is because of a so-called trade war with China, America lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs,” Harris claimed during the debate held at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Trump launched the trade war with China in 2018, demanding Beijing to reduce the massive trade deficit, which amounted to a whopping $375.6 billion in 2017.
She said that the Trump administration’s perspective and approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives, American jobs and America’s standing.
Responding to her, Pence said that the Democractic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden has been a cheerleader for the communist China over the last several decades.
“Lost the trade war with China? Joe Biden never fought it. Joe Biden has been a cheerleader for communist China over the last several decades,” Pence remarked.
“Joe Biden wants to go back to the economic surrender to China, that when we took office, half of our international trade deficit was with China alone. And Joe Biden wants to repeal all of the tariffs that President Trump put into effect to fight for American jobs and American workers,” the vice president said.
Harris denied the allegation that Biden will raise taxes.
“I will repeat, and the American people no, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact. That is a fact. I will repeat that Joe Biden has been very clear that he thinks about growing jobs, which is why he will not increase taxes for anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year,” she said.
China and the US in January signed Phase-1 of the trade deal as the world’s two top economic powers moved forward to end their bitter tit-for-tat two-year tariff war that had rattled markets and weighed on the global economy. The deal calls on China to buy $200 billion worth of US products.
The two countries so far have imposed additional tariffs on nearly $half trillion worth of goods. The US has imposed tariffs on more than $360 billions of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated with tariffs on over $110 billions of American products.