Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has warned of the far-reaching consequences of the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, which he claimed may specifically damage the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The trade war between China and the United States remains one of the main international challenges, and its repercussions may extend beyond the bilateral relations and affect the prosperity and progress of people all over the world,” Mousavi was cited by Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.
He said that Tehran perceives the US’ approach to China in terms of the two’s trade spat as a sort of “economic terrorism”.
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Mousavi added that the statistics and studies show that the US stance, which led to the trade war with China, may reduce the global GDP by up to $600 billion in the next two years,which would mean, among other things, rising poverty and lower living standards.
He made the remarks after the latest round of the US-China trade negotiations came to a deadlock in mid-May amid another increase in US duties on Chinese goods. Washington raised tariffs from 10% to 25% on Chinese imports worth about $200 billion.
In response, the Chinese Finance Ministry announced that as of June 1, Beijing will slap increased duties on the import of US goods worth $60 billion.
The Washington-Beijing trade spat has been simmering since 2018, when Trump announced the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth $50 billion in order to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit.