Singaporean scholar urges Biden to end Trump's trade war with China

Containers of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited are seen at the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles County, the United States, Feb. 27, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Ying)

For the United States, keeping the trade sanctions and tariffs on China in place is like shooting oneself in the foot, according to the Singaporean scholar.

SINGAPORE, April 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden's administration should end the trade war with China initiated by former U.S. President Donald Trump, a renowned Singaporean scholar recently said.

Referring to the U.S. trade war with China as a complete failure, Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, said in an article published Saturday on The Straits Times that there was a strong consensus that Trump's trade war against China hadn't helped American workers or consumers.

Anti-tariff posters are seen on a life vest outside the building of U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington D.C., the United States, June 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The trade war neither reduced the trade deficit, nor helped the U.S. economy, Mahbubani said in the article, stressing that the tariffs and sanctions have not only failed to achieve their aims, but also undermined America's long-term interests in East Asia.

For the United States, keeping the trade sanctions and tariffs on China in place is like shooting oneself in the foot, according to the Singaporean scholar.

If the Biden administration wanted to formulate its trade and economic policies towards China, on the basis of the interest of American workers and consumers, and indeed to give a sharp boost to the American economy ... "it should immediately and unconditionally lift all self-defeating trade sanctions and tariffs on China," Mahbubani said.