Beijing, China, March 4, 2025: Lin Jiang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, answers questions from journalists.
Johannes Neidecker | Photo Alliance | Getty Images
China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated on Wednesday that Beijing will take “resolute and powerful” measures to protect its own interests after a 104% net total tariff on US imports into China came into effect.
“If the US really wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should be an attitude of equality, respect and mutual interest,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lyn Zian said at a regular press conference.
Reflecting Commerce Department comments on Tuesday, Lin said “If the US advocates a fight against tariff wars and trade wars, China will “be surely fight to the end.”
Last Friday, China’s Treasury Ministry announced 34% in additional tariffs on all goods imported from the US since April 10th.
Full tariffs are primarily targeted for agricultural and energy products imported from the US following two rounds of 10%-15% tariffs
Trump’s tariffs will effectively wipe out the profits of Chinese exporters once US import tariffs pass the 35% mark, according to Dan Wang, China’s director of Eurasia Group. She said that Chinese exporters would not sell to the US at all.
According to a CNBC translation, Chinese authorities said in another official whitepaper released by the State Affairs Committee Intelligence Office on Thursday that “If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China will firmly fight the US against it.”
“The US uses tariffs as a weapon to put extreme pressure on them and seek selfish benefits. This is typical of unilateral, protectionism and economic bullying,” Beijing said in a white paper.
The Chinese administration added that raising tariffs would not help the US trade surplus issue, but instead encourages significant volatility in financial markets, exacerbate inflationary pressures and undermine American industry.
Despite this, Beijing said it hopes the US will “meet along the way” and quickly lift the unilateral trade barrier. Meanwhile, they repeatedly opened up to strengthen dialogue, manage differences and encourage collaboration.
China claimed that Trump met the terms under the “Phase 1” trade contract that hit Beijing during his first term of office, claiming that the US had violated certain missions in the agreement. CNBC contacted the White House for comment on these claims.
The deal required China to increase US goods purchases by $200 billion over two years, but Beijing failed to meet its target as a Covid-19 pandemic hit.
