As the ongoing trade spat with China heats up, President Donald Trump is again taking aim at the World Trade Organization.
“China, which is a great economic power, is considered a Developing Nation within the World Trade Organization,” the president tweeted Friday morning, further stating, “They therefore get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the U.S. Does anybody think this is fair?”
He insisted that the U.S. has been poorly represented in the WTO and that the organization is “unfair” to the U.S.
China, which is a great economic power, is considered a Developing Nation within the World Trade Organization. They therefore get tremendous perks and advantages, especially over the U.S. Does anybody think this is fair. We were badly represented. The WTO is unfair to U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2018
Trump has long been critical of the WTO, especially given its perceived role in China’s economic rise. “The WTO has been a disaster for this country,” the president said in March. “It has been great for China and terrible for the United States.”
Washington and Beijing have been trading jabs in the form of tariffs and threats of tariffs in recent weeks, leading to rising tensions in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China.
Trump announced tough tariffs on foreign-made steel and aluminum in March, triggering retaliatory Chinese tariffs on $3 billion in American exports. Then, the president revealed plans to impose around $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese exports in response to China’s theft of American intellectual property and forced technology transfers.
Warning that it will “fight to the end,” China responded with tariffs of equal weight on American exports, leading Trump to threaten China with $100 billion in additional tariffs. China has said that it will “counterattack with great strength,” adding that negotiations with the U.S. are impossible under the present circumstances.
China has yet to state how it plans to retaliate to Trump’s latest threats, but it has filed a formal complaint with the WTO.
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