Alibaba founder warns trade war

Protectionism will not improve American competitiveness, and a trade war will hurt millions of small businesses and farmers in the US, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

In the article "Both Sides Would Lose a US-China Trade War", Ma suggested that as China, the largest potential consumer market in the world, is open for business, the US risks forfeiting such an opportunity by waging a trade war.

Ma's comments came at a time when the world's top two economies are embroiled in a bitter trade dispute.

Before the current trade spat, the Chinese e-commerce giant suffered a setback in the US in January, when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States blocked the $1.2 billion purchase of Dallas-based US money transfer company MoneyGram by Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba.

The Trump administration threatened to impose tariffs on $100 billion worth of Chinese products last Thursday, in addition to a $50 billion tariff package proposed two days before, which provoked China to slap 25 percent tariffs on imports of US soybeans, corn, airplanes and automobiles.

US soybeans sold to China account for 62 percent of its total soybean exports. A 25 percent tariff on US soybeans into China will have a devastating effect on every soybean farmer in America, American Soybean Association President John Heisdorffer said earlier last week.

"Instigating a trade war is the wrong solution because it will only provoke retaliation," Ma wrote. "The US has been a consistent defender of free and open markets, but this time it is resorting to protectionism that will not improve American competitiveness."

The billionaire made headlines at Trump Tower in New York early last January, when he and then president-elect Donald Trump discussed plans to create 1 million US jobs by allowing small- and medium-sized businesses to sell to China through Alibaba's platforms.

But the plan seems to be hitting a snag. At a discussion on Monday night at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province, South China, Ma said, "If China and the US have a good relationship, we can not only make 1 million, we can make 10 million or 20 million jobs for both countries," according to a live stream of the discussion.

"If they have no good trade relationship, we are going to destroy 10 million jobs," he added.

In Wednesday's article, however, Ma said his company is committed to supporting small businesses. Through its digital-commerce platforms, where at least 500 million Chinese consumers shop, Alibaba will continue to help American small businesses and farmers access the China market, he said.

Still, he cautioned, "This trade war will hurt millions of American small businesses and farmers."

Ma argued that US-China trade relations in the next 20 years will look very different from the past two decades.

With average urban income growing at almost double digits and an emerging middle class of 300 million, Chinese consumers are already driving massive demand for imports from all over the world.

"It is therefore ironic that the US administration is waging a trade war at a time when the largest potential consumer market in the world is open for business," Ma wrote, asking, "Is America going to forfeit this opportunity?"

Ma, however, remained upbeat about the future, saying that while facing setbacks in the current protectionist environment, "I remain confident and look forward to the next 20 years."