Boao, China: Political populism has driven Donald Trump to pick a protectionist trade fight with China, says the former US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

“I wish we had a World Populism Organisation to keep an eye on people who are going down that road,” said Gutierrez, who served as George W. Bush’s commerce secretary.

Populism had driven the trade tension with China, after Trump told US voters they weren’t achieving the salary increases they wanted and people are being left behind “but it's not your fault, it is the fault of trade”.

Gutierrez, a strategic consultant with former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, said he “doubted very much” that the US can negotiate a trade deal to avoid a fight with China within the two month deadline before US$50 billion in punitive tariffs come into effect.

“I also worry ... that there are people around the president who want him to take action,” he told the Boao Forum on Monday.