Malaysian minister says China and US have ‘global responsibility’ on trade
- Darell Leiking says uncertainty created by conflict has caused shift in region’s supply chain that ‘has already impacted the world for five to 10 years’
- As Beijing and Washington near a deal, he says ‘whatever decision they make, they will have to consider a lot of people’
Malaysia’s top trade official on Saturday said China and the US had a “global responsibility” to consider other countries’ interests, as the world’s two biggest economies near a deal to end their trade war.
Darell Leiking, Malaysia’s international trade and industry minister, also said the uncertainty created by the trade conflict had caused a shift in the region’s supply chain that would have a global impact for years to come.
Leiking’s remarks came after US President Donald Trump on Friday said his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping would visit the White House “soon” as there had been higher hopes the two sides could reach a deal to bring their dispute, which has dragged on for nearly a year, to an end. But officials involved in negotiations have also warned that discussions could continue for weeks or even months, and there could still be further escalation.
“The uncertainty on what America and China will do and can do or what they will likely carry on to do, has made a lot of people more careful than ever in the trade and economy,” Leiking said.
The Malaysian trade minister said he recently led a trade delegation to the United States, conveying the Southeast Asian country’s concerns to senior American and Chinese officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, who were holding talks in Washington at the time.
