United States ‘Jack’ed By Ma: Chinese Billionaire’s Million Jobs Promise Falls Flat

Jack Ma, China’s richest man, believes that the trade war between the World’s two largest economies is a major setback for job creation in the US, reported Bloomberg.

Ma claims that the unstable trade situation is why the pledge made to US President Donald Trump is no longer feasible. Alibaba’s platform was to be leveraged to create one million jobs, as discussed by Trump and Ma in 2017.

Ma went one step further and cautioned China’s business and political leaders, “The promise was made based on China and the U.S. having a collaborative and friendly relationship,” he said. “The situation now has completely destroyed our premise, so it can no longer be completed.”

Although he believes that the trade war will last beyond Trump’s presidency, he has promised to make efforts to improve bilateral relations. “The economic outlook is not perfect of course, and it will last longer than people expect,” Ma said at the WEF in Tianjin. “If you look at the government conference papers, every year they say we have complex problems in the economy.”

Earlier this week, China said it would retaliate against US’ plans to levy tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Retaliatory tariffs on goods, ranging from meat to wheat and textiles against $60 billion of U.S. are expected.

Ma believes that this trade war would possibly last for another 20 years, as both countries battle for economic supremacy - something the World should to watch out for.