Since announced the new US commercial policy on “Liberation Day” in April, President Donald Trump has made it clear that his main target is China.
Two recently closed agreements point out how the US government intends to reach the Asian giant not only directly, through specific measures for Beijing, but also for the isolation of its regional partners.
On the 15th, US President Donald Trump announced that he was closing a commercial agreement with Indonesia, a country where China has a strong economic influence, as it is the main ally in business.
The White House leader said Indonesia will buy energy, agricultural products and aircraft from the American manufacturer Boeing for a total value of about $ 40 billion, and accepting a 19% rate for products exported to US territory.
The pact was confirmed on Tuesday by Trump at Truth Social, with more detail. According to the president, the agreement will include access to critical minerals in the Asian country, along with commitments to purchase American aircraft and energy. “Indonesia will provide to the United States its important critical minerals and analyze important billions of dollars shopping agreements for the purchase of Boeing aircraft, US agricultural products and American energy,” he said.
Last week, Trump had already commented that, as part of the negotiation, Indonesia had agreed to buy $ 15 billion in US energy, $ 4.5 billion in US agricultural products and 50 Boeing planes, “many of them 777”.
Dictator Xi Jinping expanded his strategic partnership recently last year with a face -to -face visit to Indonesian homologous, Prabowo Subiante. At the time, an official report pointed out that the agreements signed involved the mining and maritime resources sector. Also, the local government reported that several investment agreements were signed in the amount of more than $ 10 billion.
According to Chinese state media CCTVdictator XI made promises to Indonesia at the time, aiming to expand its influence in the country, as it did in several nations of the American continent. Beijing promised to “collaborate” in the reduction of poverty, the sending of medicines, cultivation of grain and in the fishing industry.
Initially, on April 2, when he announced “reciprocal tariffs” for US commercial partners, Trump imposed on Indonesia a customs tariff of 32%, which has now been reduced to 19%.
Another agreement achieved by the US government this month was with Vietnam, Asia’s country that also has a significant business relationship with Beijing.
On July 2, Trump announced “total access” to the Vietnamese market. On the other hand, the Asian country must pay 20% of imports on imports.
A relevant detail of this negotiation is that Washington has established a 40% tax on Vietnamese goods to third parties, which directly affects China.
This is because the Asian giant uses a commercial practice to circumvent the identification of its products through regional countries. Vietnam is one of those countries used to circumvent American tariffs about their products. If discovered in such transactions, Vietnam can bear significant damage.
With the new pressure on China’s partner countries, Trump seeks to expand a project that began in his first term. At the time, he sought to withdraw from American companies the dependence on China. Now apparently tries to end this global influence, through individual trade agreements with the United States, aiming to remove Chinese products from the global supply chain.
