Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba tells Trump it 'supports' US brands amid trade tensions

Despite US President Donald Trump waging a war against the Chinese businesses, Jack Ma's Alibaba has taken a step towards truce by stating that it ‘supports American brands’. Alibaba’s chief executive Daniel Zhang has been quoted stating that the Chinese e-commerce gainst's policies aim at supporting US brands, retailers, small businesses, and even farmers. 

This comes amid soaring tensions between the United States and China over a wide spectrum of issues, with Trump administration consequently slapping various sanctions on Chinese officials and companies. From officials on either side indulging in a public war of words to intense geopolitical tensions on grounds, US-China relations are at an all-time low.

US-China trade war fears have resurfaced with Trump signing back-to-back executive orders against TikTok and WeChat, effectively banning US firms from doing business with from September 15. 

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Pompeo has called to cut ties with Chinese firms

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for American firms to cut all ties with Chinese companies, including Alibaba among others, under the government’s ‘Clean network’ programme.

Trump has even threatened to impose tariffs on American firm that have rejected government orders on shifting jobs from overseas back to homeland. Meanwhile, Alibaba's show of ‘support’ comes after the tech giant beat quarterly revenue and profit forecast. 

Amid tense bilateral relations, Chinese Commerce Ministry on August 20 said China and the United States have agreed to hold trade talks “in the coming days” to evaluate the progress of their 'Phase one' deal. 

The US-China deal that went on floor in February this year involved China’s commitment to boost the purchase of American goods including agricultural and manufactured products, energy, and services as per earlier reports.

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