Trade war is no option

On Monday, Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan played down that rising trade disputes between China and the United States will be a mainstay of bilateral ties.

The goodwill remark was meant to prevent current trade frictions between the two large economies from escalating into a full-blown trade war that will certainly cripple the fragile global recovery.

However, US policymakers should not misread it as fuel to give them free play to rising protectionism within their country.