China says U.S.-led trade war has become biggest ‘confidence killer’ for world economy
July 18, 2018
The U.S.-driven trade war has become the biggest “confidence killer” for the global economy, China’s foreign ministry warned on Wednesday, saying the whole world would fight back if the United States continued to be “wilful”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told newsmen that the U. S. is fabricating all kinds of justifications for its trade actions, including that of national security.
On July 6, the U.S. and China slapped tariffs on 34 billion dollars of each other’s imports in an escalating trade tussle that has roiled financial markets.
President Donald Trump has threatened further tariffs unless Beijing agrees to change its intellectual property practices and high-technology industrial subsidy plans.
Trump has also hit European metal imports with tariffs and has threatened to curb car imports from Europe with a 20 per cent duty.
“The U.S. trade war is not just with China but with the rest of the world. By regarding the rest of the world as adversaries, the U.S. has dragged the entire global economy into a place of danger,” Hua said.
The European Commission last week cut its forecasts for the euro zone’s economic growth this year, saying the main causes for the revision were trade tensions with the United States as well as higher oil prices.
China’s economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter, data on Monday showed, with Beijing’s trade dispute with Washington challenging the growth outlook for the world’s second-biggest economy.
“If the U.S. continues to be wilful, countries around the world will only harden their resolve to hit back,” Hua said.
