There is still a long way to go to maintain the stability of the international economic and trade order
From May 10 to 11, China and the United States held the China-US Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva and achieved positive results. The two sides agreed to significantly reduce tariffs on each other and establish a mechanism to continue discussions about economic and trade relations. The results of this meeting not only help stabilize the global supply and industrial chains, and create conditions for China and the United States to further resolve differences through equal dialogue, but also boost the global market and reduce the risk of global economic recession. Therefore, the international community has highly praised the results of this meeting. However, it must be pointed out that the trade war is not over, and the tariffs imposed by the US administration on various countries still exist. Therefore, the current international economic and trade order is still facing huge challenges, and it is still necessary for all other countries to take measures to jointly urge the US administration to end the trade war as soon as possible, maintain the stability of the international economic and trade order, and clear obstacles for global economic development.
The current international economic and trade system is one of the most important global public products after the war. It was established after years of hard work by countries around the world. The United States itself has also played an important role in the creation of this economic and trade system. This economic and trade system has played an irreplaceable and important role in the development of the global economy, and maintaining the stability of this economic and trade system is also in the interests of most countries. The US administration tried to overturn the current free trade system based on the WTO framework by issuing a few Executive Orders, forcing other countries to reach bilateral trade agreements with the United States that are beneficial to the United States, thereby establishing a global trade system dominated by the United States. This is of course unacceptable. Although the United States is the world's largest economy, its trade volume accounts for less than 20% of the world's total trade. Therefore, The United States has neither the justification nor the right to reshape the global economic and trade system unilaterally.
As we all know, the United States is currently facing many serious economic problems, such as high inflation, heavy debt burden, and serious industrial hollowing out. It is understandable that the US administration wants to take measures to solve these problems. However, no country can be allowed to solve its own problems at the expense of other countries, trample on international rules at will, or undermine the stability of the international economic and trade order.
In 2017, the US administration’s National Security Strategy report not only defined China and Russia as strategic competitors of the United States, but also accused them of trying to change the international order. The following US administration had repeatedly emphasized that the United States must work with allies and partners to jointly defend the rules-based international order. Today, the US administration's actions of launching a large-scale tariff war and impacting the global economic and trade order have made the world see clearly who is the destroyer of international rules and who is the challenger of the international order.
The US administration has blatantly imposed tariffs on all of the United States' trading partners, vividly demonstrating the arrogance of a hegemonic country. However, no country is willing to see its legitimate interests damaged. Therefore, the tariff war launched by the US administration has aroused widespread opposition around the world. Not only China, but also many of the United States' allies, including the European Union and Japan, have expressed strong opposition to the US administration's tariff policy. Among them, China has resolutely taken countermeasures in the face of the US tariff bullying, becoming the mainstay of the global fight against the US tariff war. Facts have proved that China's countermeasures have been successful, forcing the US administration to agree to significantly reduce tariffs on China.
However, the current tariffs imposed by the United States on China remain at a relatively high level. In addition, 24% of the mutual tariffs between China and the United States have only been suspended within 90 days, and the two countries need to resolve them through further negotiations. But there are still large uncertainties in the resolution of these problems. This is because the current US leader lacks credibility and likes to go back on their words. According to statistics from The Washington Post, the US administration's tariff policies have been updated or adjusted more than 50 times, and some tariff measures have only lasted for a few days or even less than a day. This fully reflects the US administration's fickleness on tariffs.
The US administration agreed to significantly reduce tariffs on Chinese goods in the Swiss talk, mainly due to pressure from China's countermeasures, which caused many problems in the US，including financial market volatility, inflation from shortages, disrupted military production due to rare-earth shortages, and declining voter support for US leader because of inflation and unemployment threats. So, with the current Sino-US tariff war temporarily easing, when the pressure on the US administration is reduced, will it take a tough attitude towards China again?
People have noticed that after the tariff war between the United States and China eased, the US administration began to increase pressure on trading partners such as the European Union and Japan, trying to force them to submit. Dividing the unity of other countries and defeating them one by one should be a basic strategy adopted by the US administration on the issue of tariff war. This is actually a clear card of the US administration. Therefore, in the face of the pressure from the US administration, it is necessary for other countries to coordinate their positions and take actions to jointly fight against the US administration's tariff war.
When facing challenges from the unilateralism and protectionism, maintaining the current multilateral economic and trade system has become a common mission of the international community. In this regard, China has set a good example for other countries. In the future, it is still necessary for other countries to work with China to take measures to defend the stability of the international economic and trade order with the WTO at its core, and to urge the US administration to completely cancel its new tariffs in order to safeguard their own vital interests.
The author is an Associate Research Fellow of the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
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