President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariff threats have left China’s Xi Jinping with a tricky balance to strike. He’s got to show he’s ready to retaliate against U. S. trade threats while demonstrating China’s commitment to opening up.
President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariff threats have left China’s Xi Jinping with a tricky balance to strike. He’s got to show he’s ready to retaliate against U. S. trade threats while demonstrating China’s commitment to opening up.
The Chinese president’s first chance to hit back in person comes in a speech Tuesday at the Boao Forum for Asia — China’s answer to Davos — on the tropical island of Hainan.
Besides reassuring the hundreds of foreign investors present that U. S. protectionism won’t produce the same in the world’s second-largest economy, he must deliver a strong warning about letting the tariff disputes escalate into a trade war.
“You’ve got to push back and defend yourself in some way and at the same time say, ‘We are still open for business,”’ said Fraser Howie, co-author of the book “Red Capitalism,” who has two decades of experience in China’s financial markets. “The argument can be: ‘How do we not respond, if America is placing tariffs on us?”’
Xi set out his defense of globalization at the real World Economic Forum in Davos last year just days before Trump took office promising to protect the U. S. from “other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs.” After an initial honeymoon with Xi, Trump has renewed his China attacks, threatening to pile on as much as $150 billion of tariffs on the country’s goods.
