US-China Trade War May Lead to Global Recession as Early as in 2019 - RDIF Head

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - The G20 may become the platform where China and the United States could manage to overcome trade disputes, if this does not happen, recession in the global economy may begin as early as in 2019, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told Sputnik on Friday.

"In my opinion, there are two options. One of them is that President Trump will reach a compromise with China under hard pressure, which would be good for the global economy. Or, if no agreement is reached between the countries in the near future, including at the G20 summit, this will lead to a global recession, which could begin as early as next year," Dmitriev said.

“We hope that the G20 will become the platform where China and the United States will be able to resolve their trade disputes,” he added.

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Trade relations between US and China took a nosedive in June when US President Donald Trump announced that he would slap China with 25-percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of imported Chinese goods and Beijing responded in kind. In September, Washington announced 10-percent import duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, with the tariffs set to leap to 25 percent starting from January 1, 2019.