LUSAKA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- It is not necessary for countries like the United States to introduce protectionist measures in the current era when countries are promoting globalization, a veteran Zambian politician and former diplomat said on Friday.
Vernon Mwaanga, who served as minister in various governments as well as a diplomat to a number of countries including the United Nations (UN), said it was retrogressive to start talking about "America first" when the whole world was moving towards creating a global economy.
In remarks delivered on the trade dispute between China and the United States, the expert said it was not possible to talk about "America first" now that the world has made significant progress in the globalization agenda.
"To adopt an inward looking policy at a time when the whole world is moving towards globalization is certainly not only retrogressive, it sets the world clock backwards, many years backwards," he said in an interview.
"You can't have 'America first' and on the other hand globalization because the two are naturally exclusive," he added.
He noted that the countries should be supporting and caring for one another in the current global setup of globalization, instead of pulling in the opposite direction.
According to him, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created to ensure fair and free trade among countries in the global economy.
He noted that the trade dispute was started by the Trump administration, stressing that such a dispute involving the two economic giants of the world has ripple negative effects on third world countries and Africa in particular.
