Donald Trump's right-hand man has warned that the United States is currently engaged in a trade war with china. Steve Bannon, the White House chief political strategist, has also warned that the US is now trailing China in the fight, but could soon hit Beijing hard over the Asian country's unfair trade practices.
The US is losing to China
In an interview on Wednesday, Bannon told American news organization prospect.org that China's ambition is in their literature. The White House official went on to state that either the United States or China is going to become a Hegemon in twenty-five or thirty years, and that if Washington fails to act, it's going to be China that get's there first.
During the interview, Bannon also said that if the United States continues to lose its trade battle against China, it could hit an inflection point ten years from now, from which it might never recover.
China does not want a trade war with the US
Reacting to Bannon's interview, Hua Chunying, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated that Beijing believes that the country's trade relationship with the US is mutually beneficial. Speaking during a daily news conference in Beijing, the spokesperson added that the long term cooperation between China and the United States has resulted in real benefits for the citizens of both countries. She added that any neutral observer would concur with China's sentiments.
Chunying added that China has always insisted that a trade war with the United States has no future. She said that a trade war between two of the world's superpowers does not serve the interests of any party because such a confrontation could not have a clear winner. She urged China and the United States to stop viewing challenges in the twenty-first century with a nineteenth or twentieth-century mentality.
According to prospect.org, Bannon warned that President Donald Trump's administration would utilize section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act in its fight against China's coercion of tech transfers from American companies with operations in the Asian powerhouse. The US will also follow up with complaints against China's practice of dumping steel and aluminum.
Bannon promised that the US has realized that it is in a trade war with Beijing and that it was time to turn the tide. Bannon, a member of President Trump's inner circle, said that he did not see a reason to go soft on China, in the hope of getting Beijing's support over the North Korea nuclear weapons issue.
On the North Korean issue, the White House official said that there is no military solution.
