Trump officials try to enlist foreign allies in pressure campaign against China over coronavirus response

WASHINGTON(MT NEWS): With the general election just six months away, and the global economy in shambles because of the coronavirus, there is increasing urgency inside the White House and among President Donald Trump’s Republican allies to blame China over its failure to stem the spread of the disease early on.

Now, there’s an effort underway to enlist foreign allies to do the same.

In recent weeks, Trump, along with several administration officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, have spoken to dozens of foreign allies about ways to collectively address what the White House says was China’s intentional effort to conceal the severity of the outbreak, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

The President himself has scaled up his conversations with foreign counterparts over the past three weeks, and has raised China with dozens of foreign leaders, one person familiar with those conversations said. While many traditional US allies remain wary of ratcheting up tensions with China, in speaking with Trump, some European leaders have expressed concern at how China handled the crisis, according to the person.

Among the retaliatory options being discussed inside the White House are imposing additional tariffs on Chinese products, stripping China of its sovereign immunity, and cracking down further on Chinese telecommunication companies, the people said. Officials emphasized that there is no imminent action expected.

Among those pushing the President to take a harder line is Jared Kushner, Trump’s top adviser and son-in-law. According to three people familiar with his thinking, Kushner believes that one way to energize the President’s political base is by blasting China over its failure to stem the spread of the disease early on.

“The more you put this on China, the less you can say that we were slow on mobilizing,” one person close to the White House said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is known to advocate for closer economic ties with Beijing and is viewed as far less hawkish than some of the President’s top China advisers, has “started to come around” on taking a tougher stance on China, according to two people familiar with his views. These people caution however that Mnuchin remains reluctant to take any actions that might damage the initial Phase One trade deal the Trump administration agreed to with China last year.

Sources who spoke to CNN added that there has been a concerted effort to isolate trade discussions from the current political tensions so as not to damage the work that’s been done. Even in private, administration officials have been careful not to bash China for non-performance on agriculture purchases, which observers say is nowhere near the peak commitment levels they had agreed to, particularly where soybeans are concerned.

China has taken some action with regard to their trade deal commitments on intellectual property, but overall it has been an uneven record on Phase One, these people said, adding that neither side has even broached the subject of Phase Two trade talks.