Boris Johnson says Britain risks being drawn into global trade war amid US-China escalation

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The day before, China decided to impose 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on $75 billion worth of imported American goods, while US President Donald Trump responded by saying that the US would increase tariffs against China even more, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

The UK risks being drawn into a global trade war amid the US-China row, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday prior to the G7 summit in France, adding that he wanted to see the de-escalation of the global trade war.

On Friday, China announced 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on $75 billion worth of imported US goods, including soybeans, wheat, corn, beef, pork and crude oil.

The move prompted Donal Trump to rush to Twitter and promise even higher tariffs against the Asian superpower.

Washington and Beijing have been engaged in a trade conflict for over a year after Trump announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports justifying the move by the need to balance the trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have introduced several rounds of reciprocal tariffs.

Responding on Donald Tusk's comments on Brexit, Johnson said that the EU Council president should help the UK find a deal, adding that he himself had been absolutely clear that he doesn't want a no-deal Brexit.

"I would say to our friends in the EU if they don't want a no-deal Brexit then we've got to get rid of the backstop from the treaty. If Donald Tusk doesn't want to go down as Mr No Deal then I hope that point will be borne in mind by him too," Johnson told reporters.

Earlier this week, Johnson returned from a European tour during which he attempted to persuade European leaders to renegotiate provisions of the Brexit deal, especially the Irish “backstop”.

The British government, however, hasn't published any details of the talks yet.