The People's Republic of China flag and the U.S. Stars and Stripes fly along Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol in Washington during Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit, January 18, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Hyungwon Kang
Alex Capri, SCMP: Is China ready for what US could unleash in trade war?
Tariffs and blocking trade are just parts of the arsenal Washington could deploy – citing ‘national security interests’ – to monitor, control and stop commercial activities.
As rumblings of a trade war between Washington and Beijing grow louder, the Trump administration appears to be gearing up for renewed confrontation with China.
The signs have been clear. Last month, Donald Trump’s move to slap punitive tariffs on solar panels and washing machines, mostly on imports from China, was an opening salvo, while the “renegotiation” of the Nafta and Korea-US (KORUS) free trade agreements has drawn the most attention.
But these moves are just a small part of the policy arsenal Washington could unleash under the banner of “national security interests” to monitor, control and block commercial activities between Chinese and American entities.
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WNU Editor: The Chinese have not gamed out what the impact would be to them if a trade war breaks out between them and the U.S.. The impression that I am getting from my friends in China is that they do not believe that such a scenario (i.e. trade war) will unfold. My prediction .... the U.S. will be taking incremental steps in making trade difficult between the U.S. and China .... and it will have an impact that will be noticed by Beijing probably at the end of this year (if not sooner).
