Beijing (AFP) – China on Friday vowed to take “all necessary countermeasures” after US President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports — a decision Beijing warned would “seriously impact dialogue”. Trump’s latest move will come into effect on Tuesday alongside sweeping 25 percent levies on Canadian and Mexican imports, intensifying a brewing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
The 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports will come on top of an existing levy of the same rate imposed by Trump on China earlier this month. Trump had announced — then halted — sweeping 25 percent levies on Canadian and Mexican imports this month over illegal immigration and deadly fentanyl, with Canadian energy to face a lower rate. But the month-long pause ends Tuesday.
Following reporters’ questions on whether he planned to proceed on the tariffs next week, Trump wrote on social media Thursday that until the problem of fentanyl stops “or is seriously limited”, the proposed levies will happen as scheduled. “China will likewise be charged an additional 10 percent Tariff on that date,” he added, referring to March 4.
In response to Trump’s allegations that Beijing is contributing to the fentanyl crisis in the United States, a spokesperson for China’s commerce ministry said Friday that Washington was “shifting the blame”. “China is one of the countries with the strictest and most thorough anti-narcotics policy in the world,” the statement read. “But the US side has always ignored these facts,” it said. “If the US side insists on going its own way, the Chinese side will take all necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” it said.
The statement also said that the tariff hike “is not conducive to solving (the United States’) own problems”, adding that it would “increase the burden on American companies and consumers, and undermine the stability of the global industrial chain”. Shortly after the statement was published, China’s foreign ministry warned that the new tariffs would “seriously impact dialogue” between the two countries on narcotics control, accusing Washington of “blackmail”. “Pressure, coercion and threats are not the correct way to deal with China. Mutual respect is the basic premise,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a daily press conference.
China’s leadership will convene next week to hammer out plans to shield its economy from Trump’s threats. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday said she hoped to speak with Trump to avoid being hit by his threatened tariffs. A high-level Mexican delegation is in Washington in search of an agreement. And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said officials are working around the clock to avert US levies but would have an “immediate” response if measures were imposed next week. Trudeau has repeatedly stressed that less than one percent of the fentanyl and undocumented migrants that enter the United States come through the Canadian border.
Trump’s threats have sent shivers through major exporter countries. Asian markets were all well in the red early Friday, with Tokyo briefly shedding three percent.
– Reciprocal tariffs – Besides levies over fentanyl, Trump added on his Truth Social platform that an April 2 date for so-called reciprocal tariffs “will remain in full force and effect”. These will be tailored to each US trading partner, with details to come after government agencies complete studies on trade issues which Trump has called for.
In a letter this week by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao to newly confirmed US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Wang noted that Trump has called for many trade investigations “aimed at China” and urged both sides to resolve their differences via dialogue. Beijing has pushed back against US fentanyl concerns, saying Washington has to solve the issue itself rather than taking aim at other countries with levies.
Rather than the drugs being supplied directly to the United States, a Congressional Research Service report noted last year that US-bound fentanyl appears to be made in Mexico using chemical precursors from China. While some precursors face international controls, others may be made and exported legally from countries like China. In early February, China’s foreign ministry warned that fresh tariffs could hurt counternarcotics cooperation.
© 2024 AFP
