President Trump suggested on Thursday that the U.S. could cut off ties entirely with China as a consequence for their poor coronavirus response.
Trump made the remarks during an interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo, saying, “There are many things we could do. We could cut off the whole relationship.”
“Now, if you did, what would happen?,” Trump asked. “You’d save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship.”
Trump explained that China continues to take advantage of the U.S. while not paying their fair share, a message he first reiterated while campaigning for president.
Trump also said he hasn’t spoken with Xi Jinping – something he said he doesn’t want to do at this time despite having a good relationship with the Chinese leader.
“I’m very disappointed in China,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Trump tweeted about the expense of having ties with China.
“As I have said for a long time, dealing with China is a very expensive thing to do. We just made a great Trade Deal, the ink was barely dry, and the World was hit by the Plague from China. 100 Trade Deals wouldn’t make up the difference – and all those innocent lives lost!” he said in the tweet.
As I have said for a long time, dealing with China is a very expensive thing to do. We just made a great Trade Deal, the ink was barely dry, and the World was hit by the Plague from China. 100 Trade Deals wouldn’t make up the difference – and all those innocent lives lost!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2020
Trump also told Bartiromo that he is “very strongly” considering mandating Chinese companies operating in the U.S. follow U.S. accounting standards. Currently, they’re not required to, and it has enabled fraudulent practices and investor losses.
“What happens is, so we say, ‘You’re going to do this and you’re going to follow the rules of the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.’ And what are they going to do? They say, ‘OK, we’ll move to London or we’ll move to Hong Kong,'” he explained.
As of February 2019, 156 Chinese companies were listed on the U.S. exchanges and worth a total of $1.2 trillion.
