“Short term, business communities in China, U.S., Europe will all be in
trouble.This thing will last long. If you want a short-term solution, there is no solution,” he said during a speech at Alibaba's investor day conference in Hangzhou, according to Bloomberg.
Ma, who announced last week that he would step down and hand the
company reins to chief executive Daniel Zhang, said that China should
now seek closer trade ties with other parts of the world, such as
Southeast Asia and Africa.
“You may win the battle, but you lose the war. Middle term, a lot of
Chinese business will move to other countries,” he said.
“Even if Donald Trump retired, the new president will come, it will still
continue... We need new trade rules, we need to upgrade the WTO,” he said, according to Reuters.
Ma's is just the latest dire forecast made following the trade spat. Last
week, Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang warned the trade war was bad for both the economy and consumers, saying, "We should see the two
governments sit down and reach an agreement."
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it had "no choice" but to
retaliate, without specifying further, Business Insider reported.
The ministry has previously threatened tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, or between 85 percent and 95 percent of American imports
coming to China.
But tariffs have left many voters worried about economic damage and
more expensive goods, according to polls.
A recent NBC News poll found that one-fourth of voters believed raising tariffs would do more to protect American jobs and help the U.S.
economy. But about half of voters said duties would raise the costs of goods or hurt the economy.