Trump says US-China tariff war just "a little squabble"
Finance Finance News Trump says US-China tariff war just "a little squabble"
10:34pm, May 14, 2019 Updated: 10:12am, May 15
Neither China nor the US look set to fold as the trade war escalates. Photo: The New Daily
Killian Plastow
US President Donald Trump insists trade talks with China have not collapsed and called the widening US-China tariff war "a little squabble".
Mr Trump told reporters he has a "very good dialogue" going with China and touted his "extraordinary" relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"We have a dialogue going. It will always continue," Trump said. "But we made a deal with China … We had a deal that was very close but then they broke it. They really did."
Trump appeared to downplay the scope of the trade war, which could lead to tariffs on all trade between the world's two largest economies, raising costs and disrupting supply chains across the globe.
"We're having a little squabble with China because we've been treated very unfairly for many, many decades," Trump said, referring to US complaints about Chinese intellectual property and subsidy practices.
Stocks, which took a beating on Monday after Mr Trump late on Friday threatened a new round of tariffs on about $US300 billion ($A432 billion) worth of remaining imports from China, gained strength after Trump's comments.
China retaliated on Monday with higher tariffs on a revised list of $US60 billion worth of US products.
Mr Trump said his administration was planning to provide about $US15 billion in aid to help US farmers whose products were targeted by Chinese retaliatory tariffs but declined to provide details.
Shrapnel from the bitter trade war between the US and China has wounded the global economy. And more carnage could be on the way.
All three major US stock indexes (the S&P 500, Dow Jones and NASDAQ) into freefall, racking up their largest single-day losses since January.
Australia's benchmark ASX 200 index followed suit, losing almost a full percentage point during trading on Tuesday.
The White House's decision to increase the tariffs came despite the Chinese Ministry of Commerce cautioning that the nation would "take necessary countermeasures" in response.
Mr Trump then took to Twitter to issue a similar warning.
Tweet from @realDonaldTrump
Such a backdown is unlikely, according to University of Technology Sydney professor, James Laurenceson, deputy director of UTS's Australia-China Relations Institute.
"There is no way China will take a backward step and bow to Trump's trade demands; it doesn't really need to – the value added to China through US exports is only 3 per cent of GDP, so the US will struggle to bring China's economy to a halt."
But, while the "trajectory is clearly not good", Mr Laurenceson said the direct impact of the feud "won't be catastrophic" for the Australian and global economies.
Few winners in 'lose-lose' stoush
Mr Laurenceson said a continuation of the trade war would result in a "lose-lose" situation from which neither the US nor China ultimately benefitted.
The tariffs are estimated to have already resulted in US real incomes being reduced by a combined $US1.4 billion ($2 billion) a month last year through the increased cost of goods, according to a study published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research.
Major household appliances, such as washing machines and dryers, which were subject to the first round of tariffs imposed in January 2018, have seen a notable increase in price.
CPI for major appliances show a marked lift after the tariffs were implemented.
Not all sectors or countries will be equally affected, however, and CommSec chief economist Craig James told The New Daily that some Australian sectors even "could emerge as winners".
"If the tariffs and higher prices have an impact in terms of the economy, [China] could look to stimulate other parts of its economy and we've seen that in recent months where more money has gone into infrastructure developments to support the economic activity," he said.
"If that were to continue and become a focus for the Chinese leadership, that would be beneficial for our producers of iron ore, coal and base metals because it would mean greater demand for raw materials."
Australia's agricultural sector may also receive a boost, Mr James said, as the increased costs of importing and exporting between China and the US forces businesses in both nations to look elsewhere for goods.
The European Union, Mexico, Japan and Canada are among the most likely to profit from the trade war, according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development research.
'Cooler heads will prevail'
Uncertainty on the direction the trade war will take and what future developments will mean for businesses is currently restraining stock markets, but Mr James said an economic crisis is unlikely to sprout from the fight.
"If it was more embroiled in a global situation of higher tariffs and prices, then you'd have a substantial slowdown in the economy, but it's more likely that cooler heads … prevail," he said.
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