Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat raises fears that US-China trade talks will unravel as Beijing vows not to cave in
- With both sides apparently unwilling to back down, investors and economists are worried things will spiral out of control ‘leaving the fish dead and the nets broken’
- Chinese party heading to Washington for talks but state media reports that Beijing is unwilling to back down in the face of the US president’s threat
Trade talks between the US and China could spin out of control in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, undoing all the promises made in recent months, economists and investors have warned.
Stock markets have plunged worldwide since Trump’s surprise announcement that he would increase punitive tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese products from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.
Although Beijing will still send its chief negotiator, Vice-Premier Liu He, to Washington on Thursday and Friday for talks, the way forward is shrouded in uncertainty, with Chinese state media reporting that Beijing will not respond to Trump’s threats with more concessions.
For his part, Trump complained in a tweet that the talks were progressing too slowly and accused China of trying to renegotiate the deal.
“China will certainly not accept it if the US is going to raise tariffs that way on Friday,” Liu Weidong, a US affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
“China will not be able to take it and the US will not get what they want [from the trade talks],” Liu said. “It will be a situation where fishes are dead and nets are broken.”