Former Trump adviser John Bolton warns that ‘the odds of a trade war are very high’ – and argues that one of America’s biggest allies is key

THE chances of a trade war between the US and China are very high if Donald Trump returns to the White House, warns former national security adviser John Bolton.

But the former US ambassador to the United Nations revealed that Washington could strengthen its cooperation with the United Kingdom in the future.

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Trump’s first term was synonymous with a combative approach to China through tariffs and Bolton suggests this could be the brand of a second term.

“Right now he is very critical of China,” Bolton said.

“He believes that the devastating effect that Covid had on the US economy and around the world cost him the 2020 election, so he blames his defeat on China.”

Bolton warned that Trump does not have a particular view toward Beijing, describing it as transactional.

He noted how Trump could change quickly, especially if he is on the path to profit.

“Trump has no philosophy – he is very ad hoc, transactional and sees things through the prism of what benefits Trump,” Bolton added.

During his first term, the fiery Republican imposed tariffs on Chinese steel products and justified the measures by claiming they would protect national security.

Beijing retaliated, but Trump was undeterred as the trade war continued throughout 2018 and 2019.

But Bolton, who served under four Republican presidents, believes Trump does not fully understand the consequences of the tariffs.

“He likes the tariffs, but he doesn’t fully understand how they work and they increase costs for American consumers on many products,” he said.

But Bolton noted how there could be room for greater cooperation rather than resorting to tariffs.

He said there is a legitimate interest by the US, Britain and Japan in pressuring Beijing over its alleged theft of intellectual property.

Bolton criticized China for games the system and stressed that action against the heads of the Communist Party could benefit the Western world.

“This has to stop and we must be truly united across the world in this regard,” he said.

“If we look for the real structural problems caused by China’s behavior, we could see an improvement in international trade and the domestic economies of all Western countries.”

But Bolton previously told The US Sun that Trump’s businesslike attitude toward geopolitics makes him vulnerable to being misled and taken advantage of by Xi.

Chinese theft is believed to cost the American economy between $225 billion and $600 billion.

Beijing has been accused of stealing data linked to American military equipment, such as the F-35 aircraft and the Patriot missile system.

China’s J-20 aircraft is remarkably similar to America’s F-35 jets.

O 2023 annual report Congress on China’s military developments warned that Communist Party elites could obtain foreign technology through espionage and theft.

“The PRC poses a sophisticated and persistent cyber espionage and cyberattack threat to military and critical infrastructure systems,” the report warned.

China has also been accused of stealing aerospace technology and thousands of Chinese students in the US have allegedly spied on behalf of the state.

Last month, Linwei Ding, a former Google software engineer, was accused of stealing trade secrets.

He was reportedly secretly hired by two Chinese technology companies.

COMMERCIAL IMPULSE?

Bolton believes there is room for greater cooperation between the UK and the US – regardless of who is in government.

Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer looks set to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom if the British opinion the research is to be believed.

Very clear Policy polls put Trump ahead of Joe Biden in the race to the White House.

This despite Trump being a convicted felon having been found guilty of falsifying business records.

Trump’s sentencing will take place on July 11.

Starmer and Trump come from opposite sides of the political spectrum, but there may be an opportunity for US-UK cooperation in light of the threats posed by China, Bolton said.

A BREXIT TRAGEDY?

“One of the tragedies Brexit is that Britain didn’t act quickly enough to get a free trade deal with the US. I still think it’s possible and should still be a goal,” she added.

Bolton said that if he were part of the Labor PartyAs a core part of the team, he would look to maximize trade opportunities with Washington.

Former Conservative and UKIP MP Douglas Carswell, now president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, said a US-UK trade deal should be simple in theory.

He admitted that UK authorities had not really taken advantage of any post-Brexit commercial opportunities.

The risk of British manufacturers putting American companies out of business is zero, and cheap British cars flooding the US market is zero, according to Carswell.

“Keir Starmer has a good opportunity here,” he speculated.

“The mind of Trump’s courtiers is that there is a very clear distinction between Anglosphere countries like the United Kingdom, CanadaAustralia – and countries like China.

“The US is at the center, then allied countries like the UK, Canada and Australia, and then the next layer out of that would probably include parts of Europe, and then in the outermost circle we have China. The UK could get a good deal.”

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