EU urges US, Russia and China not to destroy global trade order

BEIJING:A senior European official on Monday urged US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China to work with Europe to avoid trade wars and prevent conflict and chaos.

Speaking before Trump and Putin were due to meet in Helsinki, European Council President Donald Tusk appealed for leaders to avoid wrecking a political and economic order that nurtured a peaceful Europe and developing China.

Tusk spoke at a news conference with China’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Keqiang, following an annual Eu-chinese economic summit also attended by the president of the European Commission, Jean-claude Juncker. They met amid mounting acrimony over Trump’s tariff hikes on goods from China, Europe and other trading partners.

“It is the common duty of Europe and China, America and Russia, not to destroy this order but to improve it, not to start trade wars which turn into hot conflict so often in our history,” said Tusk, a former Polish prime minister.

Tusk appealed to governments to “bravely and responsibly” reform the World Trade Organisation, the global trade regulator, by updating its rules to address technology policy and stateowned industries — areas in which Beijing has conflicts with its trading partners.

Trump has criticised the World Trade Organisation as outdated and has gone outside the body to impose import controls, prompting warnings he was undermining the global system.

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