Xi seizes role as global defender of free trade against Trump
financialpost.comAs Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on the entire world, Xi Jinping is once again wasting no time in positioning himself as the premier defender of the international trading system.
China’s leader warned on Friday that the global economy was fracturing as protectionism spreads, leading to “severe challenges.” The world, he declared, had “entered a new period of turbulence and change.”
“Dividing an interdependent world is going back in history,” Xi said in a speech at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Peru read on stage by one of his ministers.
He repeated that theme in a speech on Saturday to leaders of APEC’s 21 member economies, including U.S. President Joe Biden.
“We should tear down the walls impeding the flow of trade, investment, technology and services, uphold stable and smooth industrial and supply chains, and promote economic circulation in the region and the world,” Xi said.
For Xi, it’s a role he played when Trump first rose to power in 2017. Back then, China’s head of state urged global business elites at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to reject trade wars and protectionism, saying it would cause “injury and loss to both sides.”
In the eight years since, Trump imposed punitive tariffs on China that were largely kept in place by the Biden administration, which also stepped up efforts to deny Beijing advanced technology. As he prepares to take office again in January, Trump is now threatening to impose 60 per cent tariffs on China — and, just as crucially, 10 per cent to 20 per cent on the rest of the world.
That universal tariff threat is giving Xi a fresh opening to improve ties with a range of governments bracing for tough negotiations with Trump. On Friday,
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