Clete Willems Speaks with CNBC on Post-Election US-China Trade Relations
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Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems has been quoted in the CNBC.com article “Being tough on China is what unifies a polarized U.S., former trade negotiator says,” from an appearance he made on the Squawk Box Asia program.
As the world waits to see who wins the U.S. presidential election, Willems said, the United States’ relationship with China will remain more or less status quo. “The truth of the matter is that being tough on China is what unifies us in a polarized nation right now. We’re polarized in our politics but we are not polarized on China,” he said.
If former Vice President Joe Biden should win, Willems said he would be constrained by the political environment and will likely not go back to some of the China positions he held in the past that some saw as relatively weak.
On the other hand, though, Willems said there would likely be more predictability in Biden’s policies. “You’re not going to have tweets announcing tariffs in the middle of the night kind of thing, but overall the trajectory is going to be more or less the same. I think China is going to have to deal with that reality moving forward,” he added.
For more on Willems’ comments and to watch the interview, please click here.