Hard to get global economy on track unless US abandons unruly behavior

The G20 financial ministers met on the weekend in Japan to discuss ways to bring the global economy back on track. China Daily writer Xin Zhiming comments:

The discussions highlighted global concerns about the damage the China-US trade war is inflicting on the global economy.

The G20 mechanism was established in 1999 to ensure the major economies of the world can come together and cooperate so as to cope with global challenges. And during their discussions on the weekend, the G20 central bank governors and other financial regulators sought to forge a consensus on some important issues to be endorsed by national leaders who are scheduled to meet at the G20 Summit in Osaka later this month.

As the world economy is facing new uncertainties arising from the dispute between China and the United States over trade and other issues, the G20 platform should play a more constructive role in helping resolve those issues.

Above all, the US, which has initiated the frictions with China by unilaterally imposing and raising tariffs on Chinese goods and blocking the use of products by Chinese tech company Huawei in the US, should reflect on its protectionist stance.

Abetted by the country's superpower status and strength, the US government has sought to bypass existing international mechanisms, such as the World Trade Organization, and ignore global economic rules to force its trade partners to cater to its demands. Such bullying behavior is sabotaging the current global governance order.

Admittedly, there is the necessity to reform the global governance system, but it should not be reformed solely based on the will of any one country. Equal-footed consultation and consensus-based cooperation must be the prerequisite for the reform.

The stalled negotiations between China and the US have created new uncertainties for global trade. And the international community is earnestly expecting that there can be a final resolution to the trade war between the world's top two economic powers as soon as possible.

But without the US abandoning its arrogant, unilateral behavior and respecting China's core interests, it will be difficult for any breakthrough to come, at least in the short term.

Because of this, it is almost impossible for the world's major players to sit down and work out practical changes to the global trade rules that are acceptable to all.