China’s Xi says ‘no winner’ in any trade war
JOHANNESBURG China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday 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," Mr 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 US by name.
"We are facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation, between opening up and closed-door policy and between mutual benefit and a beggar-thy-neighbour approach."
SUMMIT
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.
Mr Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all US$500 billion (S$680 billion) of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.
Mr 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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Michel Temer are attending the summit, along with several African leaders invited as guests.
"We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules, and we are worried about the impact of these measures," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit's opening session.
The Brics group, comprising more than 40 per cent of the global population, represents some of the biggest emerging economies, but it has struggled to find a unified voice.
Analysts say US trade policy could give the group renewed purpose.
Mr Sreeram Chaulia, of the Jindal School of International Affairs outside Delhi, told AFP that Brics leaders "concur that the US has unleashed punitive trade wars that are hurting all the Brics members".
"They have a collective interest in promoting intra-Brics trade. The urgency this time is greater," he said. - AFP
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