A senior Chinese official has warned against protectionism, speaking as Donald Trump’s return to the White House renews the threat of a trade war.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, said his country was looking for a “win-win” solution to trade tensions and wanted to increase its imports.
He did not mention the United States by name.
During his election campaign, Trump threatened to hit Chinese-made goods with border taxes called tariffs of up to 60 percent, but he delayed any immediate tariff action from day one, instead ordering his administration to study the issue.
US imports of goods from China have flattened since 2018a statistic that economists attribute in part to a series of escalating tariffs imposed by Trump during his first term.
This confrontation ended in 2020 when the two countries signed an agreement.
At the time, Trump waived some of his tariffs in exchange for commitments from China to buy American agricultural and other products.
But U.S. officials say China has not upheld its side of the deal.
Speaking to Congress last week, Scott Bessent, whose confirmation as Treasury secretary cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, said he planned to push to uphold those agreements and raised the possibility of also requiring “catch-up” purchases.
Trump also castigated the imbalance in US trade with China, which sells far more abroad than it imports.
In his speech in Davos, Ding said his country had eased restrictions on foreign investment, wanted to boost domestic consumption and was not seeking a “trade surplus.”
“We want to import more competitive and quality products and services to promote balanced trade,” he said.
He acknowledged that economic globalization could lead to “tensions and disagreements over distribution”, but said it was not a “zero-sum game, but a universally beneficial process from which all can benefit”.
“Protectionism leads nowhere,” he said. “The trade war has no winner.”
He added: “I believe we have the wisdom and ability to find a win-win, win-win solution.
“We must not only enlarge the pie of economic globalization, but also distribute it better.”
The IMF warned last week that a threatened wave of tariffs from Trump would escalate trade tensions, reduce investment and disrupt supply chains around the world.
