(Bloomberg) -- Chinese state media blamed President Donald Trump’s administration for playing a “disgraceful” role in disrupting the global economic order after the world’s two largest economies moved to the brink of a trade war when the U.S. announced tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting immediate retaliation from Beijing.
The trade war started by the U.S. has damaged not only bilateral interests, but also the global trade order, the People’s Daily reported on Saturday. It has pushed the multilateral trade order to the edge of a dangerous cliff, according to the newspaper, the communist party’s mouthpiece.
The paper called for a boycott of trade protectionism and joint efforts in pushing forward economic globalization. “Although we have to pay a certain price in coping with the trade war... such a price can be paid and is worth paying,” it said.
Despite room for negotiation, Washington chose a trade war with China as a means to gauge and calculate election interests, claimed the Global Times. The Trump administration was aiming to acquire more votes in upcoming elections by using trade negotiations and then starting a trade war with China, it said.
The White House’s decision is a stark violation of the core spirit of recent trade talks between China and the U.S., the China Daily said in an editorial. The Trump administration had once again proved inconsistent and precarious, which would become a major hurdle as the world’s two largest economies interacted with each other to build a new-type of trade relations, it said.
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