CHINA has responded sharply to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s new 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada.
The tariffs, which took effect on Tuesday, February 4, include a doubling of duties on Chinese goods, raising them to 20 per cent.
The tariffs became effective in the early hours of Tuesday, shortly after Trump criticised Mexico, Canada, and China for failing to adequately control the flow of the deadly fentanyl opioid and its precursor chemicals into the US.
China responded immediately according to a statement from the State Council Tariff Commission, announcing additional 10-15 per cent tariffs on chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton imports from the U.S., effective March 10, along with new export restrictions on selected U.S. entities.
While stating that it had lodged complaints about the new measures with the World Trade Organization (WTO), China announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
In a separate statement, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced the addition of 15 American companies, including drone manufacturer Skydio, to its export control list, restricting Chinese companies from exporting dual-use equipment to them.
Speaking at a briefing on Tuesday, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, said: “China will fight till the end” if the US “insists on waging a tariff war, trade war or any other kind of war.
“I want to reiterate that the Chinese people have never feared evil or ghosts, nor have we ever bowed to hegemony or bullying. Pressure, coercion and threats are not the right ways to engage with China. Trying to exert maximum pressure on China is a miscalculation and a mistake,” Jian said.
The head of the China Center for the Conference Board, Alfredo Montufar-Helu, said the China’s retaliatory tariffs followed a restrained targeted approach aimed at causing pain to those industries that matter the most to the supporters of the Trump administration, noting that the China’s tariffs gave room for negotiations to potentially avoid even more damaging tariffs.
In the same vein, Canada and Mexico, which have maintained a virtually tariff-free trading relationship with the U.S. for the past three decades, were set to launch immediate retaliatory measures.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Ottawa would impose 25 per cent tariffs on C$30 billion ($20.7 billion) worth of US imports, with an additional C$125 billion in tariffs if Trump’s measures remained in place after 21 days.
He had earlier said that the tariffs would target American beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances, and Florida orange juice.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.