30 Issues | Examining the Candidates’ Positions on China

Fred Bergsten, senior fellow and director emeritus of the Peterson Institute For International Economics, discusses Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's foreign policy positions on China.

Bergsten said, in general, Donald Trump presented more problematic policies, including imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, for fixing what Trump perceives as China's advantageous trade relationship with the U.S. He also had some criticism for Hillary Clinton's stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"I simply think Trump's proposal will be a disaster for the U.S. in both economic and foreign policy terms," he said. "I would also disapprove of Secretary Clinton wanting to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, if she did that. But I think she's left herself enough wiggle room to change some of the terms, maybe change some of the relevant U.S. policies, so we could go ahead. But if she pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I think that too would be a huge cost to the United States and would actually counter her own central point of we need to find ways to work with China, in terms of global stability, political and economic."