‘EU, China Have Common Interests to Cope With US Protectionism’ - Analyst

11:41 GMT, 4 July 2018
CC0 / /
The Chinese government has announced plans to implement retaliatory duties on $34 billion worth of US goods following the introduction of similar measures by Washington. Sputnik has discussed the issue of the looming trade war with Qingyi Su, Senior Research Fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
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Sputnik: What is your take on the situation? 

Qingyi Su: I think it won't be easy for China and US to negotiate suspending plans to initiate new tariffs on each other's products on 6th July. The situation is not optimistic. 

Sputnik: China has recently stated that it was willing to de-escalate tensions in the trade dispute with the US, is this still a likelihood?

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Qingyi Su: Yes, China always wants to de-escalate trade tensions with US. China doesn't want a trade war. However, this depends on the US. If the US imposes tariffs on China's products and starts a trade war, China's best choice is to retaliate. Retaliation is better than doing nothing.

Sputnik: What other means beyond tariffs can the Chinese government use to retaliate? 

Qingyi Su: China has said that if the US continues to impose another tariff on China's products, it has to use both quantitative and qualitative retaliation. Qualitative retaliation means other ways beyond tariffs. Maybe this includes the services trade.

Sputnik: President Trump has stated that he may further impose tariffs on another 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods or more if Beijing continues to fight back, what consequences can this have on American and Chinese markets? 

Qingyi Su: This will have much larger impact than the 50 billion dollar tariff, and bring some uncertainty regarding the two countries' economies and even responses in the stock market.

Sputnik: The US has been leading an aggressive tariff policy against the EU as well; In your view, why doesn’t the union want a joint alliance with Beijing to counter Washington?

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Qingyi Su: Actually, the EU and China have some common interests to cope with US unilateralism and protectionism. US activity will have a harmful impact on multilateralism. China and the EU have the same viewpoints to oppose protectionism. 

Sputnik: If tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to escalate who will be impacted the most? Follow up: some experts have noted that these trade disputes could lead to a global trade war, what is your take on that?

Qingyi Su: Both China and US economy will be affected. And then the growth of the world economy will be affected, too. Maybe it will be not appropriate to say a global trade war. The trade war is between the US and other economies. Other economies should be united to face the US challenge. 

On this episode of The Critical Hour, with Dr. Wilmer Leon, we discuss the “Made in China 2025 Initiative” and where it will leave the US. Also, an immigrant-rights activist faces her second deportation hearing at Seattle Immigration Court while fighting for the rights of other migrants against I.C.E. Hear about her struggle.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect Sputnik's position.

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