When you focus on Trump’s foreign policy you will notice that it has protectionism and hawkish views on China as its main tenets. As such this paper shall break down his foreign policy into four parts: Protectionism, China, Russia-Ukraine, and Israel-Palestine.
Protectionism:
Starting with protectionism, Trump continues pushing his “America-first” position reinforcing it with further protectionist policies mainly targeted towards China and the perceived trade imbalance between it and the United States (Republican National Convention, 2024). A core component of this strategy is of course, tariffs. Something which Trump has stated would especially target China with a tariff rate of 35% on all imported Chinese goods. Additionally, Trump and other Republicans will revoke China’s most favoured nation status which reduced tariffs on Chinese goods as well as enabling freer trade. In another protectionist move mostly in regards to the current housing crisis in the United States, Republicans have also stated that they will impose restrictions on China from purchasing American real estate and companies. Many of these moves would please the current American voting base due to prevailing anti-Chinese sentiments (Silver et al, 2023).
The other core component of Trump’s revival of protectionism is his “America-first” policy which also additionally ties into climate change. For example, Trump and other Republicans have stated their intentions to revive the American auto industry (Republican National Convention, 2024) however the rise of Chinese automobile companies especially ones that specialize in electric vehicles is of serious note as Chinese electric vehicles have become quite popular internationally something which the European Union has noticed as it has also enacted tariffs on the importation of Chinese electric vehicles (Blenkinsop, 2024). As such the new Trump administration wishes to rectify this by reversing Biden’s Electric Vehicle mandate, cutting regulations that target the automobile industry such as emission limits as well as increasing tariffs or banning the importation of Chinese vehicles (Republican National Convention, 2024). This disregard for climate change can be further shown by his declaration that upon his second term, he will withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement once again (Council on Foreign Relations Team, 2024). Additionally, the vulnerability of supply chains especially those that involve the manufacturing of critical goods such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors has resulted in a shift of corporate opinion in favour of “reshoring” or “de-risking” a business practice which involves diversifying supply chains to prevent over reliance on one country or moving manufacturing away from perceived hostile states to more neutral or friendly powers, a trend which the Trump administration wishes to support. This has been reiterated by Trump many times as he has consistently vowed to bring back American manufacturing. Additionally, Trump and the Republicans have stated that in order to encourage companies to keep manufacturing within the United States they will ban companies that outsource jobs from doing business with the federal government (Republican National Convention, 2024).
What makes this interesting is that it contrasts with the previous Republican president, George W. Bush who while on occasion pursued some protectionist policies such as an imposition of a tariff on foreign steel which was eventually removed due to objections from the World Trade Organization (Jacobs, 2013). He frequently pursued many free trade agreements with various nations including Singapore, Colombia, Peru (White House, 2007) and with all Central American countries excluding Belize and Panama under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (White House, 2002) although a separate free trade agreement was established with Panama (White House, 2007).
China:
The best indication of Trump’s foreign policy on China can be best illustrated by his appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. Marco Rubio’s hawkish positions on China are well documented by his co-sponsoring of the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act which allowed the American government the ability to ban certain Chinese imports over concerns of human rights abuses of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. As such it should come as no surprise that the tariffs mentioned earlier are mostly designed to target China (Martina, 2024). The Trump administration has also stated that it wished to target the Chinese pharmaceutical industry over fears that the American market is over reliant on Chinese medicine, specifically penicillin (Council on Foreign Relations Team, 2024). Additionally, due to the rise of Artificial Intelligence as well as the requirement of semiconductors in high-level manufacturing of electronics and military weaponry, Trump has enacted several policies in his first term such as export controls on semiconductors and chip making equipment to China. This importance on semiconductors was reinforced by Donald trump becoming the first United States president or president-elect to speak directly with his Taiwanese counterpart since 1979, a move which infuriated China due to their longstanding One China Policy which dictates that countries can only either recognize mainland China or Taiwan due to the People’s Republic of China claiming sovereignty over the island. Furthering his hawkish credentials, in July 2020, the Trump administration announced its rejection of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. A contentious issue with many Southeast Asian nations.
This also contrasts with Trump’s Republican predecessor, George W. Bush who actively pushed for China’s inclusion in the World Trade Organization as well as strengthening American-Chinese trade ties (Nguyen, 2017). This was mainly due to Bush’s belief that by pursuing better diplomatic and trading ties with China, he could stir the rising power into America’s orbit as such eliminating a potential rival in geopolitical affairs by instead befriending them. This was showcased by Bush pushing for the American Congress to normalize trading ties with China as well as Bush supporting and aiding the then Chinese president, Hu Jintao during the SARS outbreak. Additionally, Bush declared his appreciation for the Chinese president’s handling of SARS such as his transparency despite international criticisms of Hu Jintao’s handling.
Russia-Ukraine:
In terms of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, Trump has been vocal about his opposition to sending further military aid to Ukraine. Stating that European countries will need to step up their own contributions to Ukraine’s defense (Council on Foreign Relations Team, 2024). It should be noted that Trump has appointed General Keith Kellog for the Ukraine envoy role. Kellog in collaboration with other members of the future administration have come up with their own peace plan. This plan would involve the current freezing of battle lines at their prevailing locations in an attempt to force both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiation table. This would be enforced by the United States telling Ukraine that it would only receive further American weapons if it enters peace talks. Likewise, the United States would warn Russia that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased American support for Ukraine. In a bid to ease Russia to the table, the Trump administration has stated that they would be willing to take Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table for the immediate future (Slattery et al, 2024). However, it should be noted that this plan comes with the issue that Ukraine would effectively be coerced into giving away some of its sovereign territory to Russia.
This Trump policy is also in contrast to Bush’s foreign policy towards Russia. Bush actively insisted that Russia could not object to Ukraine or Georgia’s ascension to NATO (BBC News Team, 2008), stating that both countries should be able to take part in NATO’s Membership Action Plan, a program designed to assist countries in their aspiration of achieving NATO membership (NATO, 2024).
Israel-Palestine:
Trump’s positive opinions on Israel have been well known. Even to the point where Trump has referred to Israel as a “cherished ally.” This was further reinforced by Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the official Israeli capital as well as recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights territory during his first term. Both recognitions were internationally condemned due to worries that they impede future reconciliation efforts between Israel and Palestine. Additionally, Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, an effective peace and recognition deal between Israel and many formerly hostile countries such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan (Council on Foreign Relations Team, 2024). This move was seen as pushing for Arab and Middle Eastern acceptance of the State of Israel, something which was seen as unthinkable due to previous demands for recognition being tied to Israel recognizing Palestine and abiding to the two-state solution. Additionally, Trump has stated to Israel that “You’ve got to finish the problem” in regards to Israeli military action against Hamas in Gaza (Hillyard & Smith, 2024). A comment indicative of his support of Israel.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Trump’s foreign policy is characterized by a strong emphasis on protectionism aided by a hawkish approach to China. This was illustrated by his restrictions on Chinese purchasing of American real estate and industries as well as the enactment of tariffs against Chinese goods. Additionally, due to the appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. The administration appears to be more vocal in its support of Taiwan.
Likewise, Trump has been vocal about his opposition towards sending further military aid to Ukraine and instead advocates brokering a peace deal which involves coercing both Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table through threats of cutting off further military aid to Ukraine as well as increasing military aid to Ukraine in case of Russian refusal.
Finally, Trump’s positive stance towards Israel is evident through his previous recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, as well as his role in brokering the Abraham Accords. Additionally, his quote of “You’ve got to finish the problem,” in regards to Hamas reiterates his support for Israel during the conflict.
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