US-China Trade Dispute Negative For World Economy - French Finance Minister

Earlier, US Customs and Border Protection announced a 25% hike on tariffs on 5,700 categories of Chinese imports, amounting to $200 billion.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the risk of a US-China trade dispute escalating constitutes the biggest threat to world economic growth.

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"There is no greater threat to world growth," Le Maire told CNews. "It would mean that trade tariffs go up, fewer goods would circulate around the world… and jobs in France and in Europe would be destroyed".

US President Donald Trump announced on May 5 that Washington would raise tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry responded to the federal notice by warning the US of countermeasures.

The United States and China have been in a trade dispute since June 2018, when Trump announced the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on Chinese goods worth of $50 billion in a bid to fix the US-Chinese trade deficit. Since, the two countries have exchanged in several rounds of trade tariffs.