China takes a swipe at Trump, says tariffs could lead to global recession

Top Stories

China takes a swipe at Trump, says tariffs could lead to global recession
Wang Yi speaking at a news conference after restoring diplomatic ties with Kiribati on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

United Nations - US president also considers delisting Chinese firms from US stock markets

By Reuters

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sat 28 Sep 2019, 8:57 PM

Last updated: Sat 28 Sep 2019, 11:00 PM

The Chinese government's top diplomat said that tariffs and trade disputes could plunge the world into recession and Beijing was committed to resolving them in a "calm, rational and cooperative manner".
In a blunt speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: "Erecting walls will not resolve global challenges, and blaming others for one's own problems does not work. The lessons of the Great Depression should not be forgotten."
Taking a clear swipe at US President Donald Trump, who started a damaging trade war on China nearly 15 months ago, Wang added, without naming the US leader: "Tariffs and provocation of trade disputes, which upset global industrial and supply chains, serve to undermine the multilateral trade regime and global economic and trade order."
"They may even plunge the world into recession."
In successive rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, the US and China have levied punitive duties on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other's goods, roiling financial markets and threatening global growth. A new round of high-level talks between the world's two largest economies is expected in Washington in the first half of October.
Wang's remarks, unusually pointed for a Chinese diplomat, coincided with word that the Trump administration is considering radical new financial pressure tactics on Beijing, including the possibility of delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. At the United Nations, Wang also took aim at Trump's policy on North Korea, in which groundbreaking talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled, largely over the US refusal to ease punishing sanctions.
Wang said it was necessary for the United Nations to consider invoking the rollback terms of North Korea-related sanctions resolutions "in the light of new developments" on the Korean Peninsula "to bolster the political settlement of the Peninsula issue".
He said "the realistic and viable way forward" was to promote "parallel progress in denuclearisation and the establishment of a peace mechanism" to gradually build trust "through phased and synchronised actions".
Trump mulls delisting Chinese firms from US markets
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges, three sources briefed on the matter said, in what would be a radical escalation of US-China trade tensions.
The move would be part of a broader effort to limit US investment in Chinese firms, two of the sources said. One said it was motivated by the Trump administration's growing security concerns about the companies' activities.
Major US stock indexes slipped on the news, which came days before China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic on October 1, when the world's No.2 economy will shut down for a week of festivities.
Shares of Hangzhou, Zhejiang-based Alibaba ended down 5.15 per cent. JD.com fell 5.95 per cent and Baidu declined 3.67 per cent. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF shed 1.15 per cent. Shares of New York Stock Exchange-owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc ended down 1.88 per cent and shares of Nasdaq declined 1.70 per cent.
It was not immediately clear how any delisting would work.


More news from