China’s Xi says ‘no winner’ in any trade war
JOHANNESBURG: China’s President Xi Jinping said that there would be ‘no winner’ in any global trade war, in a direct warning to US President Donald Trump who has threatened to slap levies on all Chinese imports.
“A trade war should be rejected because there will be no winner,” Xi said at the opening of a BRICS summit of emerging economies in Johannesburg.
“Unilateralism and protectionism are mounting, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism and the multilateral trading regime,” he said, without mentioning the United States by name.
“We are facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation, between opening up and closeddoor policy and between mutual benefit and a beggar-thy-neighbour approach.
“Theinternationalcommunityhas again reached a new crossroads.”
Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are holding an annual three-day summit, with attention focused on the threat of a US-led global trade war.
At the same time, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker is meeting with US president Donald Trump on Wednesday at the White House to try and de-es- calate the looming trade war.
Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all US$500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China’s trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.
Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.
“It is difficult to deny that the global market sentiment continues to be manipulated in large extents by the trade war uncertainties, which many think represent the largest risk to the world economy since the global financial crisis,” Global Head of Currency Strategy and Market Research at FXTM Jameel Ahmad told AFP.