“Weaponising trade”, i.e., using trade as a tool of foreign policy aspirations and marginalizing rivals instead of as an opportunity for economic growth, is not new. It is well known that among most countries, “the United States bears a good share of responsibility” for increasingly weaponizing trade. The US and its allies have used trade embargoes and sanctions against countries,[Read More…]

For the Trump administration’s senior officials, it’s been open season on bashing China. If you need an example, think of the president’s blame game about “the invisible Chinese virus” as it spreads wildly across the U.S. When it comes to China, in fact, the ever more virulent criticism never seems to stop. Between the end of June and the end[Read More…]

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Credit: CODEPINK  Tensions between the United States and China are rising as the U.S. election nears, with tit-for-tat consulate closures, new U.S. sanctions and no less than three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the seas around China. But it is the United States that has initiated each new escalation in[Read More…]

America’s pundits and politicians have largely concluded that a new Cold War with China — a period of intense hostility and competition falling just short of armed combat — has started. “Rift Threatens U.S. Cold War Against China,” as a New York Times headline put it on May 15th, citing recent clashes over trade, technology, and responsibility for the spread of Covid-19. Beijing’s decision[Read More…]

The Trump administration has stepped up its trade war against China with the announcement that US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, will begin an investigation with a view to putting a 10 percent tariff of $200 billion worth of Chinese goods by the end of August. The latest decision comes on top of the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on[Read More…]

The Trump administration has gone ahead with its threat to impose tariffs on China under section 301 of the 1974 US Trade Act, imposing levies on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods from midnight, with a further $16 billion to be targeted in the near future. The action is the first shot in a direct trade war against China, with[Read More…]

Transcript of PressTV Skype Interview of 29 May 2019 Background WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) – The United States said on Tuesday that it will continue pursuing action on trade with China, days after Washington and Beijing announced a tentative solution to their dispute and suggested that tensions had cooled. By June 15, Washington will release a list of some $50[Read More…]