CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday that Chinese trade negotiators should make a deal with President Donald Trump before the 2020 election, or risk dealing with Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“The Chinese better wake up to Sen. Warren,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street. ” “‘President Warren’ would be tougher on China than Trump.”
Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, on Monday released what she called an “economic patriotism” agenda, which outlined her approach on China.
“We’ve let China get away with the suppression of pay and labor rights, poor environmental protections, and years of currency manipulation,” Warren wrote in a blog post.
Warren, Cramer said, is harder on China than Trump, who has put tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods in hopes of forcing Beijing to acquiesce to U.S. trade demands.
“There’s no trade talks with Warren,” Cramer said. “Trump’s deal is a better deal than Warren is offering.”
U.S. and Chinese trade representatives, meeting in Shanghai this week, are resuming negotiations that stalled in May, with Trump threatening to place levies on the rest of China’s imports.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in late June at the G-20 summit in Japan, where Beijing agreed to purchase more U.S. agricultural goods in order for the U.S. to hold off on additional tariffs.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed China is not making good on those promises. He also suggested that China may be waiting to see the outcome of the 2020 election before making a deal.
Cramer said that such a strategy would be ill-advised if Warren were to climb higher in the polls.
For Warren, the “Mad Money ” host added, “It’s all about being tougher on China than the president.”
