What Do Trump’s Appointments Tell Us About His Asia Policy?

On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump generally took a tough line toward China, yet at the same time, often complained about some of the United States’ most important partners in the region, countries that have been critical to a common approach toward Beijing. Trump promised, on the campaign trail, to impose tariffs of 60 percent on all Chinese exports and also to boost the U.S. defense budget and focus it more on Asia and possibly less on Europe, including Ukraine.

But he also, while campaigning, complained about the U.S. backing of Taiwan, without Taiwan paying the U.S. for it and without spending more on its own defense, even though his first administration had taken some of the most assertive moves to demonstrate U.S. support for Taiwan of any administration in history. And, since bilateral trade balances are central to Trump’s mindset about U.S. relations with countries,

Trump’s appointments related to Asia, at the Cabinet Secretary level and below, demonstrate some of this incoherence in Asia policy. But overall, his appointments suggest that security issues will dominate, despite Trump’s grumbling about trade imbalances with some Asian partners, and that his second

administration will be even tougher toward China than his first or the Biden administration, which carried on many of Trump’s China policies. For more on what Trump’s appointees suggest about his prospective Asia policy, see my new Japan Times article.