U.S. weaponization of economic tools counterproductive and dangerous: The Economist

China Plus Published: 2019-06-15 08:05:44
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The U.S. is deploying new weapons that exploit its role as the nerve center of the global economy to block the free flow of goods, data, ideas and money across borders and that is counterproductive and dangerous, The Economist magazine has warned.

Screenshot of the article carried by the Economist. [Photo: China Plus]

Screenshot of the article carried by the Economist. [Photo: China Plus]

An article titled American power: Weapons of mass disruption published in its June 6 edition says “This pumped-up vision of a 21st-century superpower may be seductive for some. But it could spark a crisis, and it is eroding America’s most valuable asset—its legitimacy.”

The article cited the recent U.S. threat to impose crippling tariffs on Mexico after a row over migration, the cancelling of preferential trading rules for India, tighter embargo on Iran that was imposed over European objections, a ratcheting up of tariffs against China and the ban of U.S. supplies to Chinese tech giant Huawei.

U.S. technology dominance and control of the global dollar payment system give it vast power, “but if you abuse it, ultimately you will lose it,” the article warned.

The damage to America’s economy so far has been deceptively small but in fact the bill is mounting, the article said. Efforts to build a rival global infrastructure will accelerate and in the long run the American-led network is under threat, it added.

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