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China vows response to ‘the end’ after US’ new 50% tariff threat

Tariff Photo:VCG

Chinese Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry on Tuesday vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard rights and interests, in response to US President Donald Trump's recent claims of escalating tariffs unless China withdrew its retaliatory tariffs against the US by April 8.
  In a post on Truth Social on Monday, the US president has threatened China with an extra 50 percent tariff on goods imported into the US if China does not withdraw its 34 percent counter-tariff on US products, according to CNBC.
  “We will not let anyone take away the Chinese people's legitimate right to development. We will not tolerate any attempt to harm China's sovereignty, security and development interests. We will continue to take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests,”Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in response at the regular Foreign Ministry press conference on Tuesday.
   Lin said that judging from its actions, the US doesn't seem to be serious about having talks right now.“If the US truly wants to talk, it should let people see that they're ready to treat others with equality, respect and mutual benefit. If the US decides not to care about the interests of the US itself, China and the rest of the world, and is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, China's response will continue to the end,”Lin said. 
   In a statement published on its website on Tuesday, China's Commerce Ministry said China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests should the US escalate its tariff measures.
   Citing sources or experts, Niutanqin, one of the self-media accounts, posted on Tuesday that China could take six possible measures against the US'tariffs,including significantly increasing tariffs on US agricultural products such as soybeans and sorghum, banning US poultry imports, suspending China-US cooperation on fentanyl-related issues, imposing curbs on services trade with the US, reducing or banning the import of US films, and investigating the intellectual property benefits of US companies operating in China.
   China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests, Lin said on Tuesday, noting that the ministry does not comment on what's been said on the internet.
   Escalated pressure  
   While showing no intention to pause the sweeping “reciprocal tariffs,”Trump continues to intensify pressure on its trade partners including China, the EU, Japan and Canada.
   “The European Union's been very bad to us,”Trump told reporters at the White House, accusing European nations of not buying enough US goods.“They're going to have to buy their energy from us, because they need it and they're going to have to buy it from us. They can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week,”Reuters reported, citing the US president. 
   On Monday evening, the European Commission proposed its first retaliatory tariffs at 25 percent on a range of US imports in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, Reuters reported, citing an internal document. The tariffs on some goods will take effect on May 16 and others later in the year, on December 1, the document said, Reuters reported. 
   In addition, Trump wrote in another post on Truth Social on Monday that Japan has “treated the US very poorly on Trade. They don't take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs.”
   The US Department of Commerce, as part of an annual review process, plans to hike duties on Canadian lumber from 14.4 percent to 34.45 percent, CNN reported on Monday, citing published and unpublished filings in the Federal Register.
  “The economic coercion and blackmail underscores Washington's hegemonic mindset - seeking‘America First'and‘American exceptionalism'by forcing others to make sacrifices,”He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
   The US’unilateral and protectionist behaviors run counter to the WTO's multilateral trading rules as well as other countries'legitimate rights and interests, He said, stressing that China's resolute countermeasures against US bullying are necessary to safeguard true multilateralism and maintain the multilateral trading system.
    Self-inflicted isolation
  “By imposing high tariffs on all of its trade partners, including China, the US risks trade and economic isolation,”Yu Miaojie, president of Liaoning University, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 
   In the short term, global trade may be adversely affected and global growth may be dragged down. However, the US'tariffs will have limited impact on China's exports, given that the country has made efforts to diversify export destinations over the past several years and form a new pattern of all-round opening-up in various fields and sectors, Yu said.     
  “Instead, US tariffs will lead to higher prices, adding to inflationary pressure while slowing US economic growth,”he said.
   Larry Fink, CEO of US multinational investment firm BlackRock, said US stock markets could fall another 20 percent as steep US tariffs will lead some investors to believe the US economy may already be contracting, Reuters reported.
  “Most CEOs I talk to would say we are probably in a recession right now,”Fink told the Economic Club of New York on Monday, Reuters said.
   Ken Langone, co-founder of US home improvement specialty retailer Home Depot, blasted the tariffs, describing the 34 percent tariff rate on China as “too aggressive, too soon,”the Financial Times reported.
  “I believe he's been poorly advised by his advisers about this trade situation - and the formula they're applying,”said Langone
   The US Chamber of Commerce, which represents millions of US businesses big and small but which is heavily funded by industry titans, is considering suing the Trump administration to block the implementation of Trump's new tariffs set to go into effect Wednesday, Fortune reported on Tuesday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the discussions.
   The US Chamber could argue that Trump's invocation of emergency powers to impose the new tariffs is illegal. Last week a nonprofit called New Civil Liberties Alliance took a similar approach, filing suit on behalf of a small business owner who imports goods from China, arguing that the US President did not have the legal authority to impose his February tariffs on China, according to the report.
  “Faced with the US' bullying practices, all other economies will have to figure out how to overcome challenges. Thus, those economies should unite, and continue to promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation,”Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the Beijing-based China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
   China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) hosted a roundtable meeting with US-funded companies on Sunday, reaffirming the country's commitment to reform and opening-up amid global trade tensions, according to a statement on the MOFCOM website on Monday.
   Regardless of global uncertainties, China remains resolute in its path toward reform and opening-up, Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, said at the meeting, noting that multilateralism is the inevitable solution to the challenges facing the world and that China's door to the outside world will only open wider.