(Yicai Global) Aug. 15 -- US President Donald Trump recently signed an administrative memorandum to initiate a trade investigation against China. If the US ignores facts, doesn't respect multilateral trade rules and adopts measures that hurt bilateral trade relations, China will not sit on the sidelines and will take all the appropriate moves to resolutely protect its legitimate rights, a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said today.

There is no future and no winner in a China-US trade war, and both sides will be the losers, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, said yesterday.

Yesterday, Trump signed an order directing the US Trade Representative (USTR) to determine whether to probe China's trade practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USTR said that he will open a full investigation and take actions to protect the future of US industries.

A probe would target Chinese companies that allegedly infringe on US intellectual property rights and force American companies to transfer technologies and share their state-of-the-art ones with Chinese partners, a senior White House official said in telephone briefing on Aug. 12. If the US carries out an investigation, it could take up to a year and the first step would be to open negotiations with China.

David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution who served as country director for China at the World Bank for years, noted possible issues with the Trump administration's plans.

Chinese exports to the US accounts for less than 5 percent of China's gross domestic product, Dollar said. "Though the US market remains important for Chinese exporters, its role in contributing to China's economic growth isn't what it was 20 years ago," he said. "As China's economic growth model shifts away from exports and investment towards a greater reliance on services and consumption, the relative importance of the US market for China's growth will continue to decline."

China could take back business opportunities from US high-tech companies operating in China. "The US doesn't have the leverage to win big against China," Dollar said. "Any attempt to unilaterally force China to abandon its industrial policies will likely trigger a trade war, which will lead to 'lose-lose' outcomes."