The official who banned Chinese cars was fired by Trump

Was a U.S. government official fired by Trump because he supported banning Chinese cars?

According to Reuters on the 23rd, the Trump administration has removed Elizabeth "Liz" Cannon, the director of the Office of Information and Communication Technology and Services at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The report said that the office where Cannon worked was established in 2022, and its responsibility was to assess so-called "foreign supply chain security threats." A year ago, it banned Chinese passenger cars from entering the U.S. market, citing concerns about data collection and the possibility of vehicles being tampered with. Then, Cannon herself was fired by Trump in 2026.

From the Reuters report, this is likely another "trick" of the U.S. government: first, they arbitrarily ban Chinese goods, then when they find no alternatives, they blame the officials who made the suggestions.

This kind of farce has not happened once or twice. In 2023, Biden had also dismissed Ronnie Chatterji, an Indian-American advisor responsible for formulating the Chips and Science Act. At that time, U.S. media speculated that the reason for Chatterji's dismissal might be related to the act "going off track," meaning Biden wanted short-term results, but Chatterji's bill design turned into "betting on American manufacturing," forcing chip companies to choose between China and the U.S., which caused strong dissatisfaction among major chip giants, and finally ended with Chatterji's dismissal.

It should be said that there are many officials and advisors in the current U.S. government who have never been to China but call themselves "China experts." They often make policies towards China based on stereotypes and outdated experiences, thinking that one move can defeat China, but most of them end up as jokes.

These repeated farces reveal that it is not China that is "fearful," but the stubbornness of some U.S. policymakers who are detached from reality and stubbornly stick to their own ways. If Trump continues to rely on them to formulate policies toward China, he will eventually reap the bitter fruits of his actions in the Sino-U.S. rivalry.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855168171200540/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.