Tariffs against China will harm US, China, world

The United States' imminent "punitive tariffs" on about $50 billion of Chinese products will not only burden the world's two largest economies, but also many other countries, said Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce.

He warned that the ongoing bilateral trade conflict will generate serious negative effects for consumers, investors, the global value chain and financial markets.

"The latest tariff move by the US on Chinese goods will affect many Chinese manufacturers, their foreign suppliers and stock markets throughout the world," he said. "It has also changed the nature of the bilateral trade conflict from short-term to a long-term one, and it surely will negatively impact global economic growth."

Because of the inconsistent economic and trade policies from the US, Wei said that global trade conditions will become more unpredictable and a number of countries will suffer the outcomes of US trade protectionism as they are incapable of confronting the superpower’s pressure.

This has exposed the hypocritical nature of the US administration, Wei said.

"Many countries now are aware of the fact that the Section 301 investigation is unilateral and harmful. Using unilateralism to replace multilateralism, and trade protectionism against globalization will hurt more countries' economic growth."