by Xinhua writers Xiong Maoling, Zheng Kaijun, Hu Yousong
WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Protectionist measures such as additional tariffs would burden U.S. consumers, harm U.S.-China trade and weaken the world economy, said renowned U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs, urging the incoming administration to avoid implementing protectionist policies.
Sachs, an economics professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said he does not believe imposing additional tariffs on trading partners of the United States is a good idea.
"It will actually impede the world economy. It will create higher costs. It will burden U.S. consumers. It will harm mutual relations between the United States and China, but also (with) other countries as well," he told Xinhua in a video interview.
The economist said that if trade barriers start spreading all over the world, and the World Trade Organization breaks down, it will be a "big shock" to the global efficiency and supply system. "It's a loss of output, a loss of the benefits of international trade," he said.
Sachs noted that there are two motivations for the continued tendency to levy tariffs on Chinese products, one of which is protectionism.
"China is ahead of the United States in producing electric vehicles. It's ahead of the United States in producing many other green technologies. It's ahead of the United States in 5G technologies," said the economist. "So this is one of the reasons for protectionism."
The other motivation, he said, is a desire to weaken China and to harm China's economic progress.
"China has strong trade relations with the rest of the world, and I think China will be able to boost its trade with the rest of the world ... because most countries in the world want to have good, strong, open trade and finance relations with China," he added.
The economist noted that China wants to engage in economic development and technological advancement. "Yes, Chinese companies compete hard. They want to win market share. They want to be prosperous. But that's the same with American companies," said Sachs.
"So all of this very exaggerated talk of threats is just wrong and dangerous," he said.
"And in my 43 years of visiting China, very frequently, I have never felt during that period that China poses a threat to the United States," he added. ■
