- Beijing is unlikely to use its US Treasury holdings as a weapon.
- China, now basking in an impressive 6.3 percent economic GDP growth rate in the first half of 2019.
The Global Times has reported that the tit-for-tat trade conflict between the US and China of a magnitude and endurance the world has rarely witnessed before has entered a stalemate or seesaw phase.
Key points from the article:
- Both Beijing and Washington are seen entrenching deeper, refusing to yield any ground.
- The months-long tussle, ignited by the US government in its desperate desire to impede and hold back China’s growth, is actually a stress test for China’s policymaking apparatus to steer the second-largest economy down a path of ad hoc responses, adaptation, regaining resilience and finally, counterattacks.
- Lately US President Donald Trump renewed his gambit by threatening to levy more tariffs on $325 billion worth of Chinese goods.
- hardly any Chinese economists or ordinary residents were unnerved or even agitated by the news.
- Many openly displayed contempt and some called it a bluff by the White House.
- China’s economy retains growth rates of more than 6 percent despite 25 percent tariffs on $250 billion Chinese imports.
- Where will US shopping malls and e-retailers replenish if $325 billion in Chinese daily necessities are stopped by the Trump administration?
- Some observers warn that if Trump blocks Chinese clothes, there might be a real danger that Americans may walk the street naked.
- The Wall Street would certainly not clamor for that kind of market chaos.
- In the eyes of many Chinese, the Trump administration looks increasingly like a bigoted bully .
- All that US President Donald Trump craves is not to be seen as weak or caving into China or Russia or India or the EU.
- However, China, now basking in an impressive 6.3 percent economic GDP growth rate in the first half of 2019, is firming up its bastion, ready to fight a prolonged trade war of attrition.
- Beijing aspires to set an exemplary role for other sovereign states to say “no” to a tariff-wielding bully.
- By connecting the dots, one can find the trajectory of China’s policymakers, who are becoming more steadfast and determined to launch counterattacks.
- What they want to attain is simply to combat trade protectionism and economic imperialism, and uphold global equality and justice.
- Relying on boisterous domestic consumption which rose 9.8 percent in June, China is now a lucrative market for all economies including the US.
- China’s government is expected to promulgate clear-cut rules on placing rogue American companies on its non-reliable entity list.
- US businesses that toe the Trump administration’s order and harm Chinese high-tech firms such as Huawei, or are found selling arms to China’s Taiwan, will be sanctioned.
- No US companies that are hurting China’s core interests – territorial integrity or technology competitiveness – will escape unscathed.
- Beijing has time and again warned that if the Trump government stubbornly raises tariffs and escalates the trade war, it will cut off rare-earth mineral supplies to the US.
- China’s holdings of US Treasury bonds have declined for three consecutive months from March to May, according to media reports.
- Beijing is unlikely to use its US Treasury holdings as a weapon, but it is a subtle warning that China will no longer purchase the papers, a tactic forcing the White House to think things over before escalating the trade fight.
Share
