President Mahama and his Chinese counterpart.
President John Dramani Mahama has called on countries that share common values and interests to unite in the face of global trade challenges.
His comments come after Ghana was hit with a 15% tariff on its exports to the United States, following a new trade order.
The tariff impacting Ghanaian goods was introduced as part of an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump on July 31 to address what it calls a national emergency due to persistent trade deficits and imbalanced trade relations.
In a bilateral meeting with Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang during his state visit to the People’s Republic of China, President Mahama reiterated his concerns about the U.S. trade policies.
“The world is changing rapidly. After the Second World War, we all agreed that we would adopt a multilateral world order. Unfortunately, some countries have decided to act unilaterally, both in terms of their relationship with other countries, but also in terms of destroying the rules-based world trade order that we all had agreed to.
And so countries are slapping tariffs unilaterally on other countries. My own country, Ghana, has not been spared. We’ve been slapped with 15% tariffs, but I’m sure that is far less than China has been slapped with,” he stated.
President Mahama explained that “…it’s creating a lot of confusion and unpredictability in the whole world. But this is a time that countries that have shared values must stand together, and Ghana and China have had shared values. We have voted on international organizations on the same side.
And so as the world becomes more unpredictable, this is a time that countries like Ghana and China and other willing partners that believe in multilateralism should stand even closer together. And we appreciate the work that China is doing in that regard. Let me congratulate China and to thank you for the support you continue to give to Africa.”
“These programs are opening up infrastructure that facilitates trade, especially Africa has adopted the African Continental Free Trade Area. And so it becomes important that we put in the infrastructure, the railways, the ports, the roads to be able to exchange goods between African countries. And China has been one of the countries that has assisted in this regard,” President Mahama urged.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
