Image credit: Gage Skidmore
US President Donald Trump has commented that the on-going trade dispute with China will eventually end, following back and forth threats from the two powers having sweeping effects on the market.
Trump tweeted on Sunday: “President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its Trade Barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become Reciprocal & a deal will be made on Intellectual Property. Great future for both countries!”
Since the White House’s decision in March to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, the US published a list of $50 billion worth of Chinese goods that will be affected the introduced tariffs.
China responded with levies on $50 billion in major US exports; hitting agricultural and automotive industries, among others.
On Thursday, Trump reacted once again; warning of tariffs on $100 billion worth of Chinese imports, causing the US stock market to drop 2 percent.
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Global investors, however, believe that the signals show Trump’s harsh rhetoric may simply be a bargaining tactic – efforts to secure a suitable deal with China.
However, Director of the US National Economic Council Larry Kudlow stated on Fox News Sunday that Trump is “not bluffing” with the threats of tariffs on Chinese imports.
A recent panel at Port of Long Beach’s Annual ‘Pulse of the Ports Peak Season Forecast’ on March 28, 2018 discussed the potential threat of a US-China trade war on cargo exchange with Asia.
At the event Drewry Maritime Research’s Senior Quantitative Economist Mario Moreno called an all-out trade war unlikely.
Moreno commented: “Both nations have a lot to lose.
“Consumer prices would certainly go up here in the U.S., and the Chinese government would certainly retaliate by imposing tariffs of their own.”
