US-China Tensions in Focus: Trump Threatens Decoupling Economies Again

US President Donald Trump seems relentless in his pursuit against China, once again bringing up the prospect of decoupling the economies of

Written by: Arslan Butt • Tuesday, September 8, 2020 • 1 min read

• Last updated: Tuesday, September 8, 2020

US-China Tensions in Focus: Trump Threatens Decoupling Economies Again

US President Donald Trump seems relentless in his pursuit against China, once again bringing up the prospect of decoupling the economies of both countries during a Labor Day news conference on Monday. With the presidential election fast approaching, Trump seems determined to focus his campaign against China, raising tensions between the two world leaders.

In his address, Trump remarked, “So when you mention the word decouple, it’s an interesting word. We lose billions of dollars and if we didn’t do business with them we wouldn’t lose billions of dollars. It’s called decoupling, so you’ll start thinking about it.”

Meanwhile, according to a recent report on the New York Times, the Trump administration is exploring a ban on cotton products from the Xinjiang region in China over an alleged use of forced labor on minority Muslims. If this ban goes through, it would further escalate tensions between the two countries.

Lawmakers in the US had proposed a legislation to this effect back in March to prevent goods manufactured by the use of forced labor in the Xinjiang region from being consumed by the US. Such a move could be effected by the US Customs and Border Protection department using a withhold release order.