Bengaluru/San Francisco/Beijing — Alibaba chairman
Jack Ma says the company can no longer meet its promise to create
1-million jobs in the US due to US-China trade tensions, Chinese news
agency Xinhua has reported.
Ma has already warned that the trade war between the world’s two
largest economies could last decades and that China should focus exports
on the "Silk Road" trade route, citing Africa, Southeast Asia and
Europe.
Ma met US President Donald Trump two years ago and laid out the
Chinese e-commerce giant’s plan to bring 1-million small US businesses
on to its platform to sell to Chinese consumers over the next five
years.
"This commitment," Ma told Xinhua, "is based on friendly China-US
co-operation and the rational and objective premise of bilateral trade.
The current situation has already destroyed the original premise. There
is no way to deliver the promise."
Tmall and Taobao
While Ma has not detailed how he would add those jobs, he had said he
wanted to encourage American small businesses to sell on Alibaba
marketplace Tmall and Taobao, reasoning that every new business that
joined the platform would have to hire a person to manage the extra
sales.
Investors seemed unfazed by Ma’s comments, with Alibaba shares
closing up 3.8% on Wednesday. They have declined 5.7% so far in 2018,
including those gains.
Trump on Monday imposed 10% tariffs on about $200bn worth of imports
from China, and threatened duties on about $267bn more if China
retaliated.
China responded a day later with tariffs on about $60bn worth of US
goods as planned, but reduced the level of tariffs it will collect on
the products.
Ma’s latest comments come after others he made about the escalating
trade skirmish and show his support for Beijing’s stance on how
additional tariffs will affect businesses and the country’s One Belt One
Road foreign policy initiative.
"The US likes competition, China likes harmony, they’re two different
cultures," Ma said at an investor conference in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Ma, expected to step down as Alibaba chairman in a year, predicted on
Tuesday that trade frictions would lead to "a mess" for all parties
involved.
Reuters
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