Editorial | Cooperation the only winner as Xi warns on trade war losers

After an agreement between the United States and China to cool their trade dispute, in which Beijing is seen as the biggest winner, President Xi Jinping has debunked the concept of winners and losers in trade wars. Ultimately, everyone stands to be a loser. There were “no winners in tariff wars”, he told Latin American and Caribbean leaders this week, in a veiled reference to the US, which escalated the trade war involving the two countries with a global tariff blitz.

Now that both sides have dropped or scaled down most tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days to clear the way for negotiations, the defence of multilateral trade cooperation against the false promise of unilateral protectionist tariffs has begun. Xi has been at the forefront, including at a summit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – featuring the biggest developing economies in the northern and southern hemispheres – and in a speech to Latin American and Caribbean officials at a ministerial meeting of the China-Celac Forum. In his first public remarks since trade talks with Washington, he said bullying or hegemonism “only lead to self isolation”.

China has adopted multifaceted diplomacy in defence of multilateralism and international cooperation. It is exemplified not only by this week’s meetings in Beijing, but also by earlier visits to Asean member countries Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, then to Moscow where he met the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela as well as Russian officials. The basic message has been consistent. Xi told Latin American and Caribbean leaders: “The world is undergoing a century of rapid change, with multiple risks compounding one another. Only through solidarity and cooperation can countries maintain world peace and stability.”

China was willing to work with countries in the face of rising geopolitical tensions and the “surging undercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism”, he said.

Brazil’s Lula told a joint press conference with Xi that the two countries were determined to speak as one against unilateralism and protectionism.

China is trying to build support by promoting a world order in which countries join hands against hegemony and isolation, while maintaining respect for the UN charter and for major international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, which has been unable to hear appeals in trade dispute cases for years because the US blocks the appointment of new judges to its appellate court.