New Delhi: Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday cautioned against a return to the protectionist trade policies. He warned that the world must not slip back into the “law of the jungle” where powerful nations dominate weaker ones. His remarks came amid the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, just a day after the US announced that its proposed 100% tariffs on Chinese goods were “off the table.”
Li condemned “unilateralism” and emphasised the importance of maintaning global cooperation. “Economic globalisation and multipolarity are irreversible. The world should not return to the law of the jungle where the strong bully the weak,” Li said, according to news agency AFP.
Discussions to end the ongoing trade war
The diplomatic exchange comes just days before a high-stakes meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. The leaders are expected to discuss a framework for ending the prolonged trade war that has disrupted global markets for three years. Trump, while en route to Japan said that he remained “hopeful of a deal” when he meets Xi on Thursday.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that the Biden administration, continuing Trump-era negotiations had decided to withdraw the threat of an additional 100 per cent tariff on Chinese imports. The proposal was originally floated in response to Beijing’s expanded export controls on rare earth materials.
US, China to reach ‘basic consensus’
“We had a very good two-day meeting,” Bessent told CBS News, referring to the latest round of talks between US and Chinese negotiators in Kuala Lumpur. “I would expect that the threat of the 100 per cent has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime.”
According to China’s state-run Xinhua agency, the two sides have reached a “basic consensus” on a potential trade agreement after talks led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.