The U.S. presidential election, as I noted in a very short post on the subject for CFR.org, remains a very close race between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, with their running mates Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.
But despite the close race — with both candidates tied or within a few points of each other in key battleground states — the two candidates are likely to take dramatically different approaches to Asia policy.
While the Trump-Vance team has expressed disdain for many of America's traditional European allies and open skepticism about continuing aid to Ukraine, it has taken a very tough stance on China and signaled a desire to encourage Asian countries to take clear sides with either Washington or Beijing. But the campaign has said little about how human rights issues in Asia might affect U.S. decision-making. Trump has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods, which could devastate Asian and global economies.
