US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has pushed back against warnings that the trade war between Washington and Beijing will jeopardize the global economy, saying that pushing China to open up will be good for all.
Mnuchin told reporters in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s drive to punish China with tariffs to encourage it to adopt fairer trade practices would not imperil the world economy.
“Our objective with China is very clear: it’s to have a more balanced trading relationship,” Mnuchin said.
“I think that if we are successful, this is very good for US companies, US workers, Europeans, Japan, all of our other allies, and good for China.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned this week at annual meetings in Bali that the escalating US-China trade confrontation would hobble global economic growth, as the fund lowered its forecasts for this year and next.
On Tuesday, the IMF cut its outlook for global GDP…