Trump's trade war puts the US and China 'in the foothills of a cold war,' says Henry Kissinger

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• Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger warned that if the trade war is left uncontrolled, it could spiral into a bigger conflict like World War I.
• "If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe," the former US trade secretary said, according to Bloomberg.
• Kissinger is famed for serving as US secretary of state and national security advisor under Presidents Nixon and Ford, played a major role in US foreign policy during the cold war.
• US-China relations seems to hit a sticking point within the last week, as Reuters reported that a deal may not be able to agreed-upon until 2020.
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Legendary former US diplomat Henry Kissinger warned that if the trade war is left uncontrolled, it could spiral into a conflict like World War I.

"If conflict is permitted to run unconstrained the outcome could be even worse than it was in Europe. World War I broke out because a relatively minor crisis could not be mastered," Kissinger said at a session of the New Economy Forum, organized by Bloomberg.

Henry Kissinger, 96, who served as US secretary of state and national security advisor under Presidents Nixon and Ford, played a major role in US foreign policy during the Cold War.

His warning didn't stop at World War I, as the former US trade secretary added that currently, the conflict is nearing "the foothills of a cold war."

"That makes it, in my view, especially important that a period of relative tension be followed by an explicit effort to understand what the political causes are and a commitment by both sides to try to overcome those," Kissinger said according to Bloomberg, adding "It is far from being too late for that, because we are still in the foothills of a cold war."

"So a discussion of our mutual purposes and an attempt to limit the impact of conflict seems to me essential," he added.

US-China relations seemed to hit a sticking point within the last week, as Reuters reported that a deal may not be able to be agreed-upon until 2020, while CNBC reported that a Morgan Stanley analyst said a "phase one deal" might be "as good as it gets. "

However, economists at Goldman Sachs earlier this week charted the effects of the trade war on both the Chinese and American economies. Both were taking a substantial hit to GDP growth, according to the bank.