Washington [US], November 30: Worried about the adverse impacts of US President-elect Donald Trump's tough policies, many economies are taking actions that are believed to demonstrate coordination in alleviating the concerns of the new administration in Washington.
In an interview with the Financial Times on November 28, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said that the European Union (EU) must cooperate with Mr. Trump to avoid a trade war. "This is a better scenario than a purely retaliatory strategy that leads to tit-for-tat retaliation with no real winner," she explained, adding that a major "trade war" could also lead to a decline in global GDP. According to her, the EU should offer to buy some items from the US such as liquefied natural gas and defense equipment.
On the Canadian side, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's government plans to increase investment in border security, following Trump's move. The Canada-US border is the longest in the world at nearly 9,000 kilometres and is largely policed by mobile patrols. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he hoped the government would take a more proactive approach and show that Canada "takes border security seriously, or risk economic disruption from Trump's tariffs."
In China, Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong called on the United States to respect market economy principles and fair competition. Xinhua on November 28 quoted He as saying that Beijing opposed discriminatory restrictions on Chinese companies by "broadening the concept of national security and abusing export control measures." In a later report on November 29, Xinhua cited a statement from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council as saying that China would extend the exemption from additional tariffs on some US goods until February 28, 2025. The exemption was due to expire today (November 30).
Meanwhile, there was conflicting information after the phone call between Mr. Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on November 27. Mr. Trump said that Mexico agreed to close the border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US, while Ms. Sheinbaum said that she "reiterated Mexico's position that it would not close the border, but would build bridges between the government and the people". Previously, Ms. Sheinbaum said that she had a good conversation and the two sides did not directly mention tariffs but only talked about illegal immigration and drug trafficking. In a related development, US President Joe Biden said he hoped Mr. Trump would reconsider raising tariffs on Mexico and Canada to avoid "destroying" relations with close allies.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper