Putin: US-China trade war offers great opportunities for Russia

The escalating trade friction between the United States and China is opening the door for Russian producers to enter the Chinese market, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the global investment forum in Moscow on Wednesday.

“According to WTO estimates, the mutual restrictions recently imposed by G20 countries reduced global trade by almost $500 billion. Is anyone interested in this, including such a large economy as the US? For us this creates certain opportunities,” Putin said, explaining that Russia will supply soybeans to China instead of the US.

“The United States supplied in huge quantities, now we will deliver. We agreed with our Chinese friends that we’ll supply poultry meat and some other goods. But in fact the Americans themselves voluntarily abandoned this market, a very huge one..,” the Russian president stressed.

Washington and Beijing have been locked in a standoff over the trade balance, technology secrets and market access since May, when US President Donald Trump approved tariff hikes on billions worth of Chinese imports. So far, Washington has imposed import duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods, while Beijing retaliated with levies on $60 billion of US imports, and stopped buying American oil.

Over the last two months, the world’s two largest economies have been holding talks, trying to come up with a solution to resolve the trade conflict. However, all attempts have been futile so far.

Last week, managing director of the Money and Derivatives Markets at the Moscow Exchange, Igor Marich, said that the ongoing trade conflict between Beijing and Washington would make Chinese investors look for opportunities in Russian markets.

Earlier this month, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russian producers may potentially replace the US in supplies of day-to-day produce, including soybeans, pork, rice, poultry and fish.

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