The current Governor of Florida, a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race, Ron DeSantis, has stated that he plans to remove China’s permanent normal trade relations status if he becomes President. In an interview with Fox News, DeSantis stated his support for this action, acknowledging that it would likely require congressional approval.
The permanent normal trade relations status was granted to China by the U.S. Senate in 2000 as the country prepared to join the World Trade Organization. Removing this status would also necessitate congressional approval, as it is a legal designation in the United States for facilitating free trade with a foreign nation.
Tensions between the United States and China have persisted for years, stemming from issues such as national security concerns regarding Taiwan, U.S. restrictions on exporting advanced technologies, China’s state-led industrial policies, human rights violations, controversies surrounding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and trade tariffs.
A number of efforts have been made by Washington to improve relations between the two largest economies in the world. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described her recent meetings with senior Chinese officials as “direct” and “productive,” contributing to the stabilization of the often tumultuous relationship between the two superpowers.
In the interview, Governor DeSantis emphasized China as the top geopolitical threat faced by the United States. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who currently leads the Republican field in polls with DeSantis in a distant second, expressed his intent to provide the Chinese regime with a 48-hour ultimatum to vacate its alleged spy facility located on the island of Cuba, which is situated 90 miles off the U.S. coast. In a recent interview with Reuters, Trump stated that he would give a 48-hour period for China to leave the Cuban base. If they didn’t leave within that time, he would impose a 100% tariff on all their goods sold to the United States. He believes this would force them to leave within two days or even one hour.
DeSantis also recently expressed his strong opposition to President Joe Biden’s economic plan, known as “Bidenomics,” which claims to revive the U.S. economy. DeSantis dismisses it as mere deception, arguing that Americans are experiencing increased costs in various aspects of life, such as food, gas, and overall living expenses. He firmly believes that “Bidenomics” must be discarded, emphasizing the need to rein in government spending.
DeSantis asserts that under Biden’s leadership, the country’s standard of living is declining while the government gains more power and attempts to utilize that power to promote a liberal political agenda, ultimately diminishing individual freedoms.
The governor maintains that the key to economic stability lies in controlling spending and eliminating excessive bureaucracy, allowing the economy to flourish through the unleashed creative forces within it.
In contrast to Biden’s approach, which focuses on rebuilding the economy from the “middle out and bottom-up,” DeSantis contends that it leads to a politicized economy that fails to deliver results. He advocates for dismantling bureaucratic red tape and nurturing a robust education system that emphasizes practical skills alongside traditional academic qualifications.
DeSantis proposes redirecting attention from indoctrination and prioritizing the production of individuals equipped with vocational skills, positioning them to contribute to the revitalization of the industrial sector and the advancement of advanced manufacturing capabilities.