Long before Clinton. This goes back to Kissinger in the early 70's, when the US and Mao's China made nice-nice.

The choice was very logical. The US had a societal crisis about industrial production. There was a lot of public pressure about pollution, spiritual degradation, and exploitation of workers. The ruling class - as it always does - looked for a PR solution.

"Hey! The Chinese are willing to exploit their population as slaves and then send the goods to us for cheap. Win-win! China 'develops', and we get cheap shit manufactured somewhere else. No pollution in the U.S. No workers exploited in the U.S. Magic, we become a 'clean' country and we still get our cheap shit! This is great!"

It's the ultimate NIMBY, and it's worked for 50 years. We sent our 'recycling' there as well. Consumers in the US don't care about slavery as long as they can't see it in front of them; ditto polluted cities. South and East Asia became the places willing to take on the negatives the US wouldn't tolerate.

For all the bitching about China, notice the reality of Asian trade hasn't shifted recently; only the rhetoric. Americans are quite addicted to cheap, convenient crap showing up at our doors on demand. As long as China and India are willing to play the game, it's a pretty solid economic structure. Hard to break.

It will break, however, when the dollar is dethroned. That's going to be a shock very few in the US are remotely prepared to face.

edit to add:

Bonus points to those who recognize that the above decisions were taken at the same moment when the US went bankrupt under the old monetary system and closed the gold window to maintain their pre-eminent role in the world. These events are all absolutely intertwined.