US in Trade War against Europe and Asia

The US trade measures, especially sanctions, are a catalyst for greater cooperation among other countries to make themselves less vulnerable to what the US may do to punish them through the hegemonic position of the US dollar in the global financial system, said in an interview with www.valdaiclub.cov Andrew Kuchins, Senior Fellow and Research Professor at the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES), School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.

The question of trade is the principal issue right now in relations with with European countries and Asian countries, especially China. The Trump administration is taking a very hard line on trade issues with the European allies and in particular with China. How far this goes remains to be seen.

This is something president Trump was talking about during his election campaign, so this should be no surprise. Sometimes people actually do things, and they seem in some cases quite extreme. Nevertheless I tend to be an optimist, cooler heads will prevail, particularly in the case with the Chinese, and we will avoid the real trade war.

The former Secretary of Treasury, Larry Summers said that we have symbiotic relations, otherwise it would be a mutual self-destruction, if we go too far in a trade war with each other. The same is virtually true with the European partners.

Prospects of the BRICS group and the other economic alliances under the conditions of trade war and sanctions

The US trade measures, especially sanctions, are a catalyst for greater cooperation among other countries to make themselves less vulnerable to what the US may do to punish them through the hegemonic position of the US dollar in the global financial system. This is a natural reaction. There would be greater cooperation, especially amongs the BRICS countries. It is the global economic issue, covering global governance and financial system. But BRICS first should mobilize the member countries to come together.

Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.