U.S.- China trade war escalates; Trump declares national economic emergency

The trade war between the US and China went up a notch on Wednesday. President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a national economic emergency empowing the government to ban the technology and services of “foreign adversaries” deemed to pose “unacceptable risks” to national security including the cyber sphere.

The move seems aimed at banning Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from U.S. networks on suspicion of cyber spying. Almost in tandem, the US commerce department added Huawei to its “entity list”, a move that bans the company from acquiring technology from US firms without government approval.

China hit back hard at the American move the next day warning of retaliation urging it not to further escalate trande tensions.

“China has emphasized many times that the concept of national security should not be abused, and that it should not be used as a tool for trade protectionism. (China) hopes that the relevant country (or countries) respects market rules and creates a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for companies from different countries including China”

The US executive order has come almost on the back of the trade war being escalated between the two adversaries..Both have imposed tit for tat tarriffs posing a challenge to the world economy after engaging in a blame game over a botched up trade deal meeting. Matters seem to be moving further away from resolution with China has been left smarting following the lastest US trade jab.