Global Geopolitical Series: No end in sight with U.S. stepping up trade war by declaring national emergency to secure the Information and Communications Technology

Anyone hoping that the ongoing trade/tariff war between the United States and China to end anytime soon, should think again. After the trade talks broke down earlier this month with both sides announcing tariffs on each other, many high ranking administrative officials rushed to contain the damages by announcing that talks are still ongoing and President Trump would be meeting President Xi at the upcoming G20 meeting. Even President Trump described the current dispute as minor squabbles and announced that a deal could be done sooner than people expect.

However, actions suggest otherwise. The White House has not only increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent, signaled the green light to move ahead with the process to impose 25 percent tariffs on the next tranche of Chinese imports worth $325 billion. And last night, President Trump stepped up the pressure on China with his executive order to secure the Information and Communications Technology targeting Chinese technology companies like Huawei. The order is significant because the United States is the leader in ‘five-eye’ intelligence cooperation between countries and a ban by the United States would very well be followed by United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The ban could soon be followed by the EU too, which is an intelligence cooperation partner of both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Here is the full executive order, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-information-communications-technology-services-supply-chain/