The billionaire businessman set to oversee trade policy for Donald Trump has hit back at Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his bid to become the leading advocate for globalisation, calling China the “most protectionist” major economy in the world.
The criticism by Wilbur Ross, made at his confirmation hearing to become Mr Trump’s commerce secretary, is the latest in an escalating torrent from the president-elect and his closest economic advisers against Beijing which has already sparked concerns of a US-China trade war.
“They talk much more about free trade than they actually practise,” Mr Ross told the Senate commerce committee on Wednesday. “China is the most protectionist country of very large countries.”
Mr Ross’s remarks come a day after Mr Xi used his appearance at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos to push back against rising protectionism, widely seen as an effort by the Chinese leader to take the mantle of international leadership in the global economy from Washington.
