Protectionism in the United States is self-defeating and a “symptom of paranoid delusions”, the official China Daily said on Friday amid escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to hit $200 billion of Chinese imports with 10 percent tariffs if China retaliates against his previous targeting of $50 billion in imports.
The Chinese paper cited research by the Rhodium Group saying that Chinese investment in the United States declined 92 percent to $1.8 billion in the first five months of the year, its lowest level in seven years.
“The woes the (Trump) administration is inflicting on Chinese companies do not simply translate into boons for US enterprises and the US economy,” it said.
“The fast-shrinking Chinese investment in the US reflects the damage being done to China-US-trade relations … by the trade crusade of Trump and his trade hawks,” it said.