Trump could be willing to conclude a “big trade agreement” with China: Mahbubani

While the American president Donald Trump is in theory “very negative on China”, in practice, he can be arranged at “a big trade agreement” with the country, according to the veteran diplomat of Singapore Kishore Mahbubani.

In fact, it is more likely that the Trump administration is negotiating an agreement with China, compared to the Biden administration, the former Singapore ambassador at the United Nations said.

While Mahbubani noted that Trump “should be more anti-china”, if the Trump administration can assure Beijing that it will not pressure for independence in Taiwan, this could smooth negotiations on a trade agreement between the two countries.

“If Trump can lead China to open its market, accept more American exports and perhaps even invest in the United States, it is possible to have a win-win trade agreement,” he said.

“The Chinese clearly want to have an agreement also with the United States. They do not want this competition to continue,” added Mahbubani.

Speaking in the same panel, David Adelman, the former American ambassador to Singapore, said that “China has an important participation in American Economic Success”.

Adelman noted that the United States is the largest Chinese goods market and that the country's consumer is still the most powerful in the world. But Chinese consumers are becoming easier, which has an opportunity for American producers.

On trade, Mahbubani thinks that there is a “structural change from power to Asia” The opening speech delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Singapore Gan Kim Yong in Converge Live.