Biden’s late moves on China, Russia, AI may mostly boost Trump

WASHINGTON: Just a few days before his term completion, US President Joe Biden released a flurry of new measures that challenge China’s chip-making and shipbuilding and limit Russian oil.

The Biden Administration is clearing the decks before Republican Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, wrapping up probes and issuing new policy. In many cases, analysts and officials say, these moves will benefit the incoming Trump administration, giving it new negotiating tools against China, Russia and others.

In less than a week, the Biden White House has sanctioned Russian oil producers and ships, restricted semiconductor chip exports, found Chinese shipbuilding practices unfair, ceded federal land for AI centres and cemented plans to effectively bar Chinese vehicles.

With his last-minute announcements, Biden is “trying to shape how history will remember him”, said Robert Rowland, a University of Kansas professor who specialises in presidential rhetoric. In doing so, “he’s giving Trump a lot of leverage”, he said, adding that Biden may not be helping himself. If Biden wanted to burnish his legacy, he “should have been doing these things a year ago. It’s too late now,” Rowland added. Biden will deliver a farewell speech from the Oval Office Wednesday evening.