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Clinton could be just as bad for China as Trump

Gwyneth Yeo Published on Tue, Oct 25, 2016 / 2:37 PM GMT+8

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SINGAPORE (Oct 25): Donald Trump may have been vocal about his negative stance on China, yet UOB Kay Hian cautions that the less-vocal Hillary Clinton could be just as bad.

For starters, the most immediate impact on China would be the restrictions on its exports. The US accounted for nearly 17.2% of all of China’s exports on average for the past five years, with key exports like machinery and electrical equipment, textiles and apparel, furniture and bedding, base metal and footwear. Foreign domestic investments from the US also represents 3.2% of China’s total FDI, though that could be an underestimation, according to Tham Mun Hon, UOB Kay Hian’s analyst in Hong Kong.

Trump plans to put a 45% tariff on Chinese imports, which Tham notes is against World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations and grants China the right to challenge the tariff increase. “WTO could authorise China to increase tariffs on US products by the same monetary amount,” he said in a note on Tuesday.