Singapore Deputy PM Says Progress on Global Trade May Unravel

(Bloomberg) -- Global trade faces greater uncertainty and there’s a risk progress that’s been made on commerce may unravel because of dispute between China and the U.S., Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.

The relationship between the world’s two largest economies will be the most important in defining the future of global economics and trade, Shanmugaratnam said at a briefing Wednesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“There’s a prospect of unraveling what we’ve achieved,” he said. “What is critical is to develop greater interdependence between the U.S. and China.”

The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to impose tariffs on at least $50 billion of Chinese goods over accusations of intellectual property theft. Three rounds of high-level negotiations have so far failed to make enough progress for President Donald Trump to drop his tariff threat.

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