Conservative economist Stephen Moore, who pulled his name from consideration to serve on the Federal Reserve board, predicted that President Donald Trump will prevail in his administration’s trade war with China.
“I think by the end of this year I think China is going to relent. I think they underestimated Trump. I think that we’re going to get a trade deal with China that ends some of these abusive trade practices that the Chinese impose on us ,” Moore said Sunday during an interview with John Catsimatidis on his AM 970 radio show.
Calling it the “epic battle of our times” and a new Cold War, Moore said China is stealing technology from American companies and engaging in unfair trade practices in an attempt to unseat the U.S. as the world’s greatest economy.
Moore said Trump is right to take the fight right at Beijing.
“As Donald Trump has said … you’re no longer a poor country. You are no longer a Third-World country. You are the second-largest economy in the world. You have to play by the rules,” Moore said .
He also raised the possibility that Beijing will bear the economic effects of Trump’s increased tariffs on Chinese goods until the 2020 presidential election on the bet that a Democratic president won’t be as tough as Trump.
”They may just say we will take the big hit for 18 months and then hope Joe Biden becomes president ,” Moore said. “By the way, Joe Biden is a pacifist and a China apologist. They’d much rather deal with someone like that. ”
Trump hiked tariffs from 10% to 25% earlier this month on $200 billion worth of Chinese exports after Beijing backtracked on commitments it made in earlier trade talks.
Moore pulled his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve on May 2 after reports showed he had disparaged women’s participation in sports and for being held in contempt of court in a dispute over paying child support.
This report originally appeared on NYPost.com.
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