BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government has taken extreme trade protectionist measures, which have undermined the international economic order, according to a white paper released Monday by the Information Office of the State Council, titled "The Facts and China's Position on China-U.S. Trade Friction."
The white paper said the measures taken by the U.S. government have caused damage to China-U.S. trade and economic ties, and trade relations around the world, disrupted the global value chain and the international division of labor, upset market expectations, and led to violent swings in the international financial and commodity markets. They have become the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy.
"In the advance toward civilization, humanity has widely accepted an international governance system based on rules and credibility," the white paper said. "Countries, big or small, strong or weak, should respect each other, engage in equal-footed dialogue and jointly safeguard international rules in the spirit of contract. This is fundamental to promoting global trade and investment and boosting global growth."
However, the recent steps taken by the U.S. administration that are contrary and even destructive to the existing multilateral trade rules seriously undermine the current international economic order, according to the white paper.
"The global economy has just emerged from the shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis and the recovery is yet to be solidly-based," the white paper said. "In this context, the U.S. administration's actions to instigate large-scale trade frictions and impede the flow of world trade will undoubtedly affect the recovery of the global economy."
In order to mitigate the protectionist moves of the United States, countries are left with no choice but to take countermeasures. This will disrupt the world economic and trade order, and hold back global recovery, damaging the interests of companies and people of all countries and pushing the global economy back into recession, according to the white paper.
"By raising tariffs and erecting trade barriers, the U.S. administration has provoked trade frictions worldwide. U.S. multinationals are being threatened with 'traitor' labels and punitive taxes if they do not move their operations back to the United States," the white paper said.
Such moves will seriously undermine or even break the global value chain, and jeopardize the normal flows of trade and resource allocation across the world. Because of the interconnections between countries through trade and economic links, they will also produce extensive negative spillovers, and reduce the efficiency of the global economy.
According to the white paper, thanks to economic globalization, economies, particularly the larger ones, are highly interdependent. Ultimately, trade wars unilaterally initiated by the U.S. administration will not only hurt other economies but also undermine U.S. interests.
