Finland has warned it is “highly concerned” about the prospect of a global trade war and urged compromise from Beijing and Washington.
Kai Mykkanen, Finland’s trade minister, who met Chinese president Xi Jinping on Wednesday, told the Financial Times that the world was at a critical juncture after the end of a two decade-long “golden time” for globalisation, and amid the rise of nationalist and protectionist sentiment.
“This is one of the most crucial years [since the collapse of the Soviet Union]. Maybe this nationalism goes further and we enter into something that might be very uncomfortable for our lifestyles. Or we find a synthesis between the US and China,” he added.