Advertisement

Get used to US-China trade war, PM warns

Scott Morrison has announced the government is fast-tracking funding for several road projects in South Australia.

Scott Morrison has announced the government is fast-tracking funding for several road projects in South Australia. Photo: Getty

Scott Morrison believes Australia and the rest of the world will need to get used to the trade war between the United States and China.

The Prime Minister has offered a bleak assessment of progress in resolving the rift, as the two superpowers continue to trade blows in their long-running tariff spat.

“I think we’re going to have to get used to this for a while, this level of tension,” Mr Morrison told the Seven Network on Tuesday.

“We’ve just got to accommodate that, we’ve got to absorb it; we’ve got to see the opportunities in it, of which there are many.”

The Prime Minister was initially confident the US-China trade war would be resolved last year.

His hopes were raised again after the G20 Summit at Osaka in June.

“But we’ve seen what’s happened since then.”

As he prepares to visit the G7 Summit in France this weekend, the prime minister is treading a fine line in the protracted trade war.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner, and the US its most significant security ally.

Mr Morrison said given China’s economic success over the past few decades, it was time Beijing adhered to the same rules other countries faced.

“Having achieved that critical mass of economic performance, the rules that apply to all of us, the United States, have got to apply to China as well,” he said.

“And the rules-based order where it comes to how technology is handled, how partnerships are formed, how payments are made.

“How you reduce emissions, for example, I mean we should all be subject to the same rules now.”

-AAP

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.