The G7 Summit has begun in the shadow of the US-China trade war. Beijing announced they will raise tariffs on US goods worth around 68 billion euros.
A retaliatory measure taken in response to Washington imposing an additional 270 billion euros tariffs on Chinese goods, coming into effect from September and mid-December.
US President Donald Trump responded to China on Twitter saying that the vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will and must stop.
Trump also ordered American companies to immediately begin the search for alternative trading options to China; be it relocating companies or relocating production to the US.
This is the latest episode in the long-running trade war between US-China, the two richest countries with repercussions being felt worldwide. Both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have lowered their economic growth forecast for this year. They now predict it will between 2.6 and 3.2%.
But these aren’t just numbers. As the World Bank highlighted in its last report; stronger economic growth is essential to reducing poverty and improving living standards.
And the gap between rich and poor in the majority of the G7 countries isn’t reducing. Combined, US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy and Japan’s populations, own more than half of total global wealth.
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Of these countries, the richest 10% own approximately half or more of the country’s wealth, whilst the poorest 50% own 10% or less.
And with the world’s economy slowing down, this inequality gap won’t be diminished any time soon.
