US-China Trade War: President Xi Jinping Says No One Wins In Trade War

Amid the US-China trade war showing no signs of coming to an end, the Chinese President Xi Jinping feels that no one is a winner when it comes to a cold war, a hot war or a trade war.

Addressing the audience at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2018 summit in Papua New Guinea, Mr. Xi called out for the need for global cooperation and international trade. He added that there was no issue that countries couldn’t work out through consultation.

“History has shown that confrontation, whether in the form of a cold war, a hot war or a trade war, will produce no winners,” Xi said, reported CNN.

He urged countries to better stay away from protectionism and unilateralism as protectionist actions like implementing tariffs and cutting economic ties are doomed to fail.

Taking the centre stage just after Jinping, US Vice President Mike Pence said while they had great respect for President Xi and China, the US won’t be backing down on the trade war with Beijing until it resort to change its ways in terms of tariffs, industrial subsidies, intellectual property theft, and forced technology transfers. He added that the tariffs were a response to the imbalance with China.

“China has taken advantage of the United States for many, many years and those days are over,” Pence said. “The United States, though, will not change course until China changes its ways.”

He said the US has already imposed tariffs on US$250 billion of Chinese goods and might even double that number in absence of a trade deal.

However, Pence said he is hopeful about the US and China possibly reaching on a trade deal when President Donald Trump meets President Xi at the upcoming G-20 summit in Argentina sometime later this month. The meeting will be their first since the tit-for-tat US-China trade war began earlier this year.