Biden and Trump spar over China, economy and security in debate about America’s future
- Joe Biden and Donald Trump presented starkly different visions for America’s place in the world in a high-stakes debate
US President Joe Biden took aim at former president Donald Trump’s proposed tariff hikes during their first presidential debate of 2024, while the presumptive Republican nominee accused Biden of being “afraid” to deal with China and raising the risk of global conflict.
Speaking Thursday at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, Biden accused Trump of planning to make the average American pay US$2500 more per year with his proposal to a impose a tariff of 10 per cent or more on all imports. “He will increase the taxes on middle class people,” Biden said.
Trump defended his plan, noting that Biden has kept much of the tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions’ worth of Chinese goods by his administration.
“China’s going to own us if you keep allowing them to do what they’re doing to us as a country. They are killing us as a country, Joe,” the former president said, accusing Biden of being a “Manchurian Candidate” in China’s pocket.
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US presidential debate: Biden and Trump spar over economy, war in Ukraine
Instead of raising prices on consumers, Trump claimed his plan would lead to countries like China to “pay us a lot of money, reduce our deficit tremendously, and give us a lot of power for other things”.
The economy was a major focal point of Thursday’s debate, with each side accusing the other of raising the US deficit under their respective presidencies.
Biden, meanwhile, has announced new tariffs on about US$18 billion worth of Chinese goods, largely not on current trade flows but on emerging technologies like electric vehicles and semiconductors.
The US president defended his job creation record Thursday, occasionally stumbling over his words. “50 million new jobs. 800,000 manufacturing jobs,” he declared.
He also highlighted efforts he made to reduce America’s reliance on foreign chips, which are primarily manufactured in Asia, noting that US$40 billion has already been invested and semiconductor fabs are being built in the US now to create new American jobs.
The two candidates also presented starkly different visions for America’s place in the world.
Strengthening and forging new alliances have been a central part of the Biden administration’s Asia and broader foreign policy. Trump, meanwhile, has expressed critical views of alliances like Nato, repeatedly saying this year he would not defend Nato member nations who are “delinquent” in contributing to the group’s defence budget.
On Thursday, Biden hit Trump on his record, including his threats to pull the US out of Nato. Trump, in response, said: “The only reason that [Biden] can play games with Nato is because I got them to put up hundreds of billions of dollars”.
The former president responded similarly to Biden’s criticism of his pulling out of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords, an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, noting that it would have cost the US “a trillion dollars” and countries like Russia and China nothing.
Trump, flipping criticism on his lack of engagement with other countries, claimed that American reputation had declined under Biden and that world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping of China, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t “respect” or “fear” the current president.
He added Biden had “insane” military policies and accused him of bringing the US “closer to World War III”.
Biden, meanwhile, defended America’s reputation under his presidency: “We’re the most admired country in the world. There’s nothing beyond our capacity”.
“No one thinks we’re weak. No one wants to screw around with us,” he said.
The two presidential candidates spoke with two moderators but no audience present. About five months from election day, the debate is the earliest ever – weeks before the parties’ nominating conventions.
Polls show a close race nationally and in the critical battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden and Trump are the oldest candidates to seek the US presidency. Biden, who will turn 82 a few weeks after the November 5 election, has borne the brunt of age-related questions. Trump turned 78 this month. Both were asked to defend their age Thursday, with Trump taking several hits on Biden’s age.
