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COMMENT

If Trump means to start a trade war, China cannot afford to back down

The Times

China’s new year, the Year of the Rooster, falls a few weeks later than in the west. According to astrologists, the configuration of elements suggests a year of disharmony and international conflict. What our calendar’s new year lacks in astrology, it makes up for in 2017 with similarly worrying speculation about the presidency of Donald Trump. One of the key issues is going to be whether the United States and China will avert a trade war with unpredictable consequences for them both and the rest of us.

Fundamentally, the US and China are large, interdependent economies, but they are also in an increasingly competitive and adversarial relationship, which could become even edgier. Mr Trump will be a president with points to prove, but Xi Jinping