Trump trade war will hurt US more than China

If President-elect Donald Trump's rhetoric ends up fueling a trade war with China, it's the U.S. that will take it on the chin, Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, told CNBC on Friday.

"Mr. Trump is not particularly keen on China," Faber told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. "There may be some trade war escalation or trade restrictions with China, which in my view would rather be negative for the U.S. than for China."

Trump has certainly set his sights on China. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency in order to give its exports an advantage over U.S.-made goods, and he threatened to slap a tariff of up to 45 percent on Chinese imports.

While China's yuan has fallen against the U.S. dollar in recent months, policymakers on the mainland have been intervening to support the currency, not weaken it.

But Faber, who is also known as Dr. Doom for his usually pessimistic predictions, noted that China wouldn't be easily cowed.

"China does not depend on the U.S. The U.S. is still its largest export destination as a country, but taken together, all the emerging markets are for China much more important," Faber noted.

China exported about $482 billion in goods to the U.S. last year, more than any other country exported to the United States, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The U.S. exported about $116 billion in goods to China in 2015, putting its goods trade deficit $366 billion.

That compared with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) alone importing $211.55 billion from China in 2015, while exporting around $134.25 billion to the mainland, according to data posted in November by the trade bloc.

- Source, CNBC