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Originally Posted by Hakkaboy
Sanctions and tariffs are different things. Removing or lowering tariffs does not mean that Huawei 5g will automatically be welcomed back with open arms. As you said, the other nations also chose the same ban. It was not driven by other countries' anti-communism views, or as a protest to the China's human rights record nor to stop China's quest for world domination. It was deemed as a security risk and not a partisan policy. Assuming that a Biden administration (or any other administration not named Trump) would ignore their own intelligence warnings and allow Huawei 5g is quite a reach, IMHO.
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In regards to getting tough on China, whether it is banning Huawei 5G or imposing sanctions on human rights violation, the point that I want to emphasize is -- at the international level, I would say that a lot of the push back against China would not have happened if it wasn't for Trump and the US doing it first. Except for US, no other country in the world packs enough of an economic / policy / military punch on its own against China, and China knows and always take advantage of this. Take the Nobel Prize Committee's awarding of its prestigious peace prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. The Chinese government responded by freezing political and economic relations with Norway, introducing sanctions against imports of fish and other products, and limiting diplomatic interaction. On a 1-to-1 level, China always uses its economic might to punish other countries to get what it wants. When combined with its infiltration and subversion efforts, this makes it quite difficult for certain countries to stand up to China. But when there is the US acting as the vanguard leading the charge, it becomes a lot easier for other countries to join in on the push back.
For your comment on Biden walking back on their stance against Huawei, just because support for the ban was bipartisan, that doesn't necessarily mean the execution of the plan will always remain firm. At any given point on any given issue, there will always be hardliners and pacifiers / engagement crew. We will see what Biden ultimately chooses to do once he steps into office, but I prefer Trump's harder stance, and I am concerned that Biden will let up on at least certain issues and give China a chance to catch its breath.
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Also, increasing or implementing tariffs does not mean you are being tough and standing up to China on a world stage. It just means that you want their imported products to be more expensive so that consumers may choose a domestic substitute. It has nothing to do with "Stop oppressing your citizens or invading Asean countries or we will make your cell phones/toys/junk more expensive in the US!"
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I think using Huawei / Xiaomi smart phones would be a good example here. Prior to the ban / tariffs, between the similarly spec-ed phones from Huawei / Xiaomi / Samsung / LG / Google, the Huawei and Xiaomi phones would always be 1 step cheaper while using similar or slightly superior hardware. Alternatively, at the same price points, Huawei and Xiaomi would always offer phones with specs that are 1 step above the competition.
The problem here is -- for a lot of Chinese industries, they are either state-backed enterprises (Huawei) or enjoy other state-assisted benefits. They may or may not be for-profit private enterprises even if they brand themselves as such. And that's where the tariffs come in handy to level the playing field, so to speak.
For what it is worth, Pompeo has just banned cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang 2 days ago over allegations that they are made with forced labor from detained Uighur Muslims. Pompeo has also imposed sanctions on quite a few Chinese and Hong Kong officials over their involvement in the undemocratic policies in Hong Kong and elsewhere. The Hong Kong and Chinese official sanctions, in particular, are why Pompeo is really, really well liked among Hong Kongers.