China is clearly positioning itself, with an ever assertive tone, to counter US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff’s war. Shortly before his address to the Congress, Trump doubled the tariff he had slapped in February on Chinese products from 10% to 20%. Indian, Mexican and Canadian exports to the US face similar increases.
Presumably, Beijing anticipated this long ago, and hence its retaliation on the same day.
“Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating, “ Lin Jian, foreign ministry spokesperson, told media in Beijing on March 4.
If the U.S. truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China by treating each other as equals. If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”
This rarely hard-worded statement raised many eyebrows and also invited questions on March 5, when the spokesperson was asked as to what he meant by “any type of war.”
“The U.S. is bent on using the fentanyl issue as a flimsy excuse to raise tariffs again on Chinese imports. China has made clear its opposition more than once and has taken legitimate and necessary countermeasures.”
(Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that can be used for surgery or to treat severe pain. The majority of fentanyl-related harms and overdoses are linked to illegally made fentanyl (IMF). Fentanyl and fentanyl analogs have contributed to a dramatic rise in U.S. drug overdose deaths.)
The spokesperson then went on to issue a literal warning to Washington.
“If the U.S. has other agenda in mind and if harming China’s interests is what the U.S. wants, we’re ready to fight till the end. We urge the U.S. to stop being domineering and return to the right track of dialogue and cooperation at an early date,” said the spokesperson Lin Jian,
On both occasions the Chinese diplomat underlined “consultation with China on the basis of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit to address each other’s concerns,” if the US intends to solve contentious issues such as fentanyl.
The unusually harsh reaction to the new wave of tariffs on Chinese exports to the US denotes a new troublesome phase in the Sino-US relations. If the US President continues his belligerent posturing vis a vis China, this may fuel tensions but may not necessarily achieve the goals that Trump has set himself i.e Make America Great Again through increased tax revenues off imports and competing with the volumes that Chinese companies are producing. This aggression, nevertheless, may entail negative consequences not only for the US but for the extended global community.
