An overlooked Trump China policy may be key to bringing jobs back

Since former President Donald Trump began his foray into politics in 2015, one of the central aims of his movement has been to fix our trade relationship with China. 

“They’re ripping us off,” Trump would say at his rallies, pointing to the more than $300 billion trade deficit with Beijing and the hollowed-out American rust belt. 

Trump followed through on his tough talk by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports during his presidency. Once viewed as extremely controversial, these tariffs are one of the only aspects of the Trump presidency that President Biden has continued and even expanded. 

Now, as the election nears, Trump is locked in a competition with the Biden-Harris administration over who will do more to protect American industry. Whereas the Biden-Harris administration is in the final stages of raising tariffs on China, Trump promises he’ll raise them even higher. 

It’s no secret that U.S.-China relations have soured over the last several years. The recent U.S. attempt to ban TikTok and China’s new initiative to “delete America” from its technology sector are the latest escalations in an economic war that has no end in sight.

But Trump recently put a new spin on his trade policy with China that, while overlooked, could help end the economic tit-for-tat. In Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 20, after promising to raise tariffs on the Chinese auto industry, Trump said for China to sell cars in the U.S., “they have to build plants here and they have to hire our workers.” 

“When I’m back in the White House, the way they will sell their product in America is to build it in America,” he said. “They have to build it in America. And they have to use you people to build it.” 

We’re used to Trump ripping bad trade deals for shipping jobs to China. But here, he’s suggesting he can get China to ship their jobs to us. 

With China’s excess industrial capacity and America’s gutted manufacturing industry, such a deal has the potential to give both sides what they want. Beijing avoids the tariffs, and workers in Michigan get stable, good-paying jobs. It’s a creative way to get more products “Made in America” and end the current trade impasse. 

There’s evidence this is already happening. As China’s economic slowdown persists, several Chinese companies are building or developing plans to build factories in the United States. If the policy Trump suggested were pursued at scale, it would help local American businesses, transfer foreign technology to the U.S. and provide Americans with expertise they could then use to build their own plants. 

It remains to be seen whether Trump will continue to tout this policy on the campaign trail. If he does, other politicians will surely follow his lead, as they have done on trade for the past several years.

The cold war against China has gotten dangerous. In this atmosphere, mutually beneficial economic cooperation would be a good first step toward easing tensions, and a great way to one-up the Biden-Harris administration in the contest over who will deliver for the American economy. 

With his pragmatic approach to China, Trump is uniquely positioned to pull off the “Art of the Deal.”

James Bacon was a special assistant to the president and director of operations for presidential personnel in the Trump White House.