Trump: China’s pattern of misconduct is well-known

On Friday, President Trump held a news conference detailing new steps and sanctions against China, renewing tensions between China and the United States. Yahoo Finance’s Jess Smith breaks down the latest news from Washington D.C.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: We-- election year. I feel like we haven't even been talking about that nearly as much as we should. And, Rick Newman, I want to bring you into the conversation on that because it's interesting. Goldman Sachs is actually out with a note this morning, and they were saying that the most significant risk and source of uncertainty is the US election, which is now just five months away.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, and the reason they're saying that is if Joe Biden wins, he has a different agenda than President Trump. He does want to raise some taxes, not everybody's, but he does want to raise the corporate tax, for example, and taxes on the wealthy.

However, that was his plan before the coronavirus, and I just find it unfathomable to think that any president, Republican, Democrat, or otherwise, is going to raise anybody's taxes in 2021 or 2022. I mean, remember, that has to go through Congress, and Congress is not going to pass anything that's going to harm the economy at all until it's clear we're out of this. So, you know, Joe Biden's tax plan, maybe if he won in November and then he served a second term. Before that, I have trouble seeing it unless it's 2023 or 2024.

Just go back to China for a second. I think markets were relieved. We saw markets shoot up after Trump's short address on China. I think markets are relieved that he didn't really do anything that severe. He basically said we are going to begin to consider some sanctions. That was far softer than what I think markets had been fearing.

I don't think Trump can't really do much about China until November is over, till we get through the election because it will affect the stock market. So I think Trump's hands are tied a little bit there, and I think China is going to get a lot worse.

SEANA SMITH: Well, let's get more on what President Trump had to say in regards to China today. We want to go down to DC for more on this. Jess Smith, you were standing by with us right now. You were closely watching President Trump's press conference earlier this afternoon, and he was saying that China's action on Hong Kong was in plain violation of treaty obligations.

JESSICA SMITH: Right, and we actually just got some more details from the White House about one of the measures that the president announced this afternoon at this event where he spoke to reporters. He said that the US would start suspending entry to some people from China who pose a national-security risk. And now according to this proclamation that we just got from the White House, it looks like that will apply to certain graduate students and researchers from China who have ties to the People's Liberation Army. So we'll still dig through this to learn a little bit more about that, but it looks like it will be effective on June 1.

Now some of the other policy decisions that the president announced today-- he said that in response to this national-security law in China, he says he's asking his Working Group on Financial Markets to study the practices of some Chinese companies that are listed in the US. He says the goal is to protect American firms. He also says that he's taking steps to sanction certain Chinese officials.

And he says, as Rick mentioned, that he will be taking steps to eliminate this special treatment that Hong Kong has. And again, he says this is because of the steps China is taking that are eroding Hong Kong's autonomy. Here's more on how he explained this move.

DONALD TRUMP: China's latest incursion, along with other recent developments that degraded the territory's freedoms, makes clear that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to warrant the special treatment that we have afforded the territory since the handover. China has replaced its promised formula of one country, two systems with one country, one system.

JESSICA SMITH: President Trump also spent some of the time this afternoon blaming the Chinese government for the pandemic. That is something we have heard from his supporters on Capitol Hill. He continued to say that today.

And in response, he says that the US is going to terminate its relationship with the World Health Organization. So that was another headline that came out of that event this afternoon.

We are set to see the president in the next few minutes as he has another roundtable with industry executives. So if we hear any more about these plans in regards to China, we'll be sure to let you know.

SEANA SMITH: All right, thank you--