An Elizabeth Warren presidency would be really bad news for China, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.
“She is, I would say, far more extreme than President Trump on what it would take to be able to have a trade deal,” Cramer said, discussing the Massachusetts senator’s 2020 Democratic nomination bid. “I don’t understand why the Chinese government doesn’t realize that if Elizabeth Warren comes in, there will be no talks whatsoever.”
President Donald Trump‘s administration is heading into another round of trade talks with Beijing, starting on Thursday. However, Chinese officials are reportedly growing hesitant to pursue a broad trade deal that would include key commitments.
With Trump, Cramer said, Chinese officials have room to negotiate, so long as a deal is made. As part of his strategy, the president has put tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods in hopes of forcing Beijing to acquiesce to U.S. trade demands.
However, that would be a different story for Warren, said Cramer, adding she wouldn’t agree to talks with China because they “don’t believe in” religious freedom or global warming.
“She’s a much harder line than Trump,” Cramer said on “Squawk Box,” adding she likely won’t rollback the billions of dollars of tariffs introduced.
The “Mad Money” host recently said that China is likely safer with a Trump reelection. After Warren released her China approach, he said, “The Chinese better wake up to Sen. Warren. ‘President Warren’ would be tougher on China than Trump.”
Warren, in late July, 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.
On Thursday, Cramer said that if Sen. Bernie Sanders were to exit the 2020 presidential race, Warren would be free to loosen up her hard-line stance against Wall Street. Last month, Cramer first reported that he’s hearing the financial community saying about Warren that “she’s got to be stopped.” On Tuesday, Cramer said, “I’m not as fearful of Elizabeth Warren as Wall Street is.” He believes those fears are “getting overblown.”
