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Sino File | US-China trade war: Trump and Xi are locked in world’s largest game of chicken, and neither can blink
- A year into the trade conflict, with multiple rounds of talks failing, Washington and Beijing show no sign of easing retaliatory measures
- Neither side can afford a trade war – and neither side can afford to back down
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There hasn’t been a week, if not a day, over the past year without some sort of breaking news about US-China relations.
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Now more than 12 months into the trade conflict, and after the 11th round of talks failed in early May, it has gone well beyond just repeated escalation of tariffs. Washington and Beijing have both toughened their rhetoric and intensified the confrontation by expanding retaliatory measures to other areas.
US President Donald Trump has moved to blacklist Chinese telecom firm Huawei and other Chinese entities, while Beijing plans to counter that by publishing a list of “unreliable” foreign companies and individuals, which it may use to punish companies found to be blocking or cutting back supplies to Chinese companies.
Under such a scenario, all foreign companies will have to take sides with either Washington or Beijing – follow US orders to halt supplies to Chinese firms at the risk of being blacklisted by Beijing. The question now is: which companies will be next on both countries’ enemies list?
China has also indicated that it would weaponise its dominance in the supply of rare earths, the strategically significant materials that the US heavily relies on, to thwart Washington’s bid to hurt its technology industry.
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