Bilateral Trade Deficit Is Not Excuse for Trade Tariffs, Says Former Head of WTO
Xu Wei
DATE:  Mar 26 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Bilateral Trade Deficit Is Not Excuse for Trade Tariffs, Says Former Head of WTO Bilateral Trade Deficit Is Not Excuse for Trade Tariffs, Says Former Head of WTO

(Yicai Global) March 25 -- New U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports are not justified, said former director-general of the World Trade Organization, WTO, criticizing the Trump administration's latest decision. It, however, wouldn't lead to a trade war between the world's two largest economies, he believes.

U.S. President Donald Trump publicly announced hefty tariffs on imports of information technology, telecoms and consumer products from China on the grounds of bilateral trade deficit between the two countries, but his justification is not valid, said Pascal Lamy, quoted by the China Central Television's finance channel yesterday.

Other countries will not allow the U.S. to abandon the multilateral trade system, noted Lamy who headed the world trade body from 2005 to 2013, adding that globalization is simply irreversible.

President Trump signed a presidential memorandum last week, mandating the U.S. administration to levy import duties on a broad range of Chinese goods and to impose restrictions on acquisitions and mergers of U.S. businesses by Chinese investors. Up to USD60 billion worth of Chinese imports would be affected by the new tariffs, White House officials indicated.

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Keywords:   US,Tariff,Donald Trump,WTO,Pascal Lamy