Like the entire U.S.-China relationship, it's far more complex than that.

I think from a Beijing standpoint, they would prefer Trump as president than the Democratic candidate, because the track record shows that Donald Trump is not as anti-China as he's perceived to be.

And yet, Trump has made it clear that he would continue to take a hard-line approach on trade with China, threatening sizable tariff increases on all Chinese imports.

I'm telling you, outside of love and religion, it's the most beautiful word there is, tariff.

Now he has this crazy, crazy, crazy notion that putting a tariff of 60% on every single product imported from China is a good idea.

Let me just tell you, this man has so little understanding of tariffs, he thinks that China pays for them.

Inflation no doubt is on the mind of U.S. voters, and Harris has blasted the former president's tariff plans as a Trump sales tax.

And yet, the current Biden administration has maintained Trump-era tariffs on some $350 billion worth of Chinese goods, and even added billions more on other Chinese products, including electric vehicles.

Perhaps by design not to antagonize American workers in manufacturing swing states, Harris has been less specific on what her trade priorities would be, repeating that America must protect and build its competitive edge over China in critical sectors, like advanced computing and semiconductors.

The third pillar of our opportunity economy is leading the world in the industries of the future, and making sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century.

There was a narrative that I think that was prevailing when this administration took office, that the United States was sort of on the verge of being surpassed by China as an economic power, that United States' influence was waning in the world, that China's influence was on the rise.

And that's where geopolitical differences between China and the U.S. also hang in the balance.

No one knows for sure how either candidate will deal with contentious issues like Taiwan, the South China Sea, Ukraine, and the Middle East, not to mention trade policies based on national security concerns.

If Kamala Harris comes in, I'm sure it's going to be status quo, and we'll have the continuation of the current policy, which is driven by the national security lobby.

To me, this is the policy that hurts China the most.

Or does it?

China is not saying.

We have repeatedly stated that we do not comment on the U.S. elections and oppose any U.S.

individuals making an issue of China during the elections.

At some point, we know China will inevitably take a stand, regardless of who's in the White

House.

Steven Engel, Bloomberg News.