Timothy Stratford is quoted in CGTN regarding the possibility of U.S. companies leaving China over the current trade war between the two countries. Mr. Stratford says it would be a good idea if President Trump takes his time, consults his advisers, and makes sure that he thinks carefully through what he's doing. “If you try to back China's leaders into a corner publicly, then, of course, the Chinese leaders will have to push back; and if you push too much, it almost seems like you're hoping that they won't come back to the table." He adds that over the last number of months, as the trade dispute has continued and tariffs have been applied by both governments, both American and Chinese companies have had to assess the corresponding impact on their own business plans.
Mr. Stratford further added that President Trump would actually take concrete steps under the IEEPA to strictly limit the transactions that U.S. companies can have with Chinese companies. Nonetheless, the chances of that actually happening are minimal, for this would be seen as an abuse of his discretion by many people, and there would be court challenges waiting for him. The most likely thing to happen is that he would receive such a strong political push-back from even the leaders of his own party. He would see the stock market react very negatively to this, and he would realize that it would be a serious mistake for him to do that.
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