{"id":53987,"date":"2025-04-22T15:55:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/trump-treats-trade-as-a-zero-sum-game-says-chinese-economist\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T15:37:21","slug":"trump-treats-trade-as-a-zero-sum-game-says-chinese-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/trump-treats-trade-as-a-zero-sum-game-says-chinese-economist\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump treats trade as a zero sum game, says Chinese economist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lin said Trump\u2019s methods reflect a businessman’s mentality that overlooks the cooperative, rules-based foundations of global trade.<\/p>\n

He made the remarks during a press conference held under the theme \u201cChina\u2019s Medium- and Long-Term Development Prospects and the Significance of Its Stable Economic Growth to the World.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lin was answering journalists’ questions regarding the ongoing trade tensions between China and the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I am not Trump, I can only infer his thinking from his policies. As a businessman, Trump takes great pride in his negotiation skills. He believes that international trade, economics, and politics can be handled like business deals\u2014by creating advantageous bargaining positions to strike better terms,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n

He explained that Trump\u2019s strategy is based on the belief that other countries are more dependent on trade with the U.S. and will therefore be forced to yield to pressure. However, Lin warned that such thinking is both flawed and dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump assumes that, apart from China and the EU, which have economies as large as the U.S., other countries are much smaller. In his view, if you refuse to trade with me, your loss is bigger than mine… But I think there\u2019s a major flaw in his logic. The world still depends on public goods and international rules. Without them, it\u2019s hard to maintain order.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that even small countries shouldn\u2019t give in to unilateral pressure, as doing so could lead to repeated demands\u2014a pattern already seen in U.S. dealings with Canada and Mexico. Lin urged the global community to restore a system based on trust and shared rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cCountries like China and the EU won\u2019t easily give in… Even small countries shouldn\u2019t surrender, because if you give in today, tomorrow he\u2019ll ask for more. That\u2019s already happened with Canada and Mexico. Therefore, the world now realises that deals with Trump cannot be trusted. We should restore a rule-based international order. This benefits us, American businesses, and ordinary Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin emphasised that the rest of the world, representing 85% of the global economy, must work together to resist isolationist trade tactics and promote open cooperation.<\/p>\n

{{China urges closer ties with Africa
\n}}<\/p>\n

As global trade tensions continue to rise, China is also calling for stronger alliances with developing countries, especially in Africa, to push back against protectionism and safeguard multilateralism.<\/p>\n

Recently, China\u2019s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs, Xue Bing, addressed a high-level seminar in Beijing and warned that moves such as decoupling supply chains, erecting trade barriers, and weaponising tariffs are endangering the global economic system, particularly for smaller economies in Africa and the Global South.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to jointly shoulder historical responsibilities and advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world, as well as universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation. China is ready to work with Africa to remember history, forge ahead together, and jointly uphold the basic rules of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,\u201d Xue said.<\/p>\n

In 2024, trade between China and Africa reached a record $296 billion, marking a 6.1% increase from the previous year, according to Chinese customs data. South Africa remained China’s largest African trading partner, with trade totalling $52.4 billion.<\/p>\n

To further strengthen these ties, China abolished customs tariffs on imports from 33 African countries in December 2024. The decision aligns with President Xi Jinping’s announcement at the September FOCAC summit of a $50 billion funding package for Africa over three years.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Justin Yifu Lin, one of China\u2019s prominent economists, has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump for treating international trade as a winner-takes-all game, warning that this approach risks damaging not only the global economy but also America’s long-term interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000086205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[2252],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-christian-mugisha"],"bylines":[{"id":2252,"name":"Christian Mugisha","slug":"christian-mugisha","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2252,"name":"Christian Mugisha","slug":"christian-mugisha","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000086205,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/logo-2.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000086205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53987"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53987"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}