WASHINGTON ¨C The softening of President Donald Trump¡¯s protectionist economic agenda has eased fears of a global trade war. It also spares China from having to assert itself as defender of the existing global economic order or being forced to take the lead in forging a new one.
An improving growth outlook lifted the spirits of finance chiefs meeting in Washington for the first get-together of the International Monetary Fund since Trump¡¯s election. While his ¡°America First¡± position on trade prompted delegates to adopt the same position taken by the Group of 20 last month, when it dropped a commitment to resisting protectionism, there was cautious optimism the current economic order may shift but not crumble.
That suits Beijing, which benefited from a global trading system that fueled its rise from agrarian poverty to the factory to the world. Now, as China¡¯s factories seek to upgrade and the economy is driven less by exports and more by consumption, its leaders appear happy to stick with the current rule book that Trump¡¯s rhetoric, if not his actions, has questioned.
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