US should uphold consensus and not be double-faced

Despite the truce in the trade hostilities between the United States and China that was agreed less than two weeks ago after their talks in Washington, the White House on Tuesday announced it is ready to pull the trigger on tariffs and other measures to protect US technology and intellectual property from what it called China's "discriminatory" trade practices.

Although China responded that this was within its expectations, it has understandably been irked by the US reneging on the Washington agreement. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday the US was eating its words and squandering its credibility in international relations.

That the trade spat has flared up again after the Washington meeting seemed to have taken the heat out of it, has sparked fresh concerns about the impact it could have on the global economy and value chains.