US and China are not heading into a ‘cold war’ - BNP Paribas chairman

The U.S. and China are not heading into a “cold war” even though trade tensions have escalated, said Jean Lemierre, chairman of France’s largest lender, BNP Paribas.

“I do not believe it’s the beginning of a cold war. First, because I have been trained at the time of the Cold War, I know what it is — and this is not what I see today,” he told CNBC.

“Yes, there are tensions, there are frictions, but I think everybody has understood the benefit of cooperation, if not globalization,” said Lemierre.

The U.S. and China have been embroiled in a trade dispute for more than a year and both sides have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods. Despite numerous rounds of negotiations, there has been no breakthrough.

But Lemierre said he was not overly concerned about those developments. “Trade is trade. Trade is about negotiations. When there are negotiations, there are tensions, and I’m not so much worried about this type of incident, as you mention. That’s part of the negotiation process,” he said.

He acknowledged that “the world is waiting for any kind of conclusion about what’s happening,” but added: “It will take time but once more, trade is about negotiation, tensions, and I hope it will be fixed.”