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China on Friday expressed firm opposition to the US' using the fentanyl issue as a pretext to threaten additional 10 percent tariffs on imports from China, with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) accusing the US of "pressure and blackmail China," vowing to take "what is necessary" to firmly defend its legitimate interests.
"Pressuring, coercion and threat is not the right way to deal with China. Instead, mutual respect is the basic prerequisite. We urge the US to correct its wrongdoing and return to the right track of addressing each other's concerns through equal-footed consultations," a spokesperson for the MFA said.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) made a similar statement on Friday. China is one of the world's toughest countries on counternarcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation, and China conducts international cooperation with other countries including the US on counternarcotics, a spokesperson for MOFCOM said.
Deflecting the blame onto other countries will not help solve the US' domestic problem, but rather place more burden on American enterprises and consumers and harm global industrial chain stability, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Public Security on Friday also voiced firm opposition to the US threat of imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese exports. "The US side ignores objective facts and fails to address the core issue of drug demand while shifting blame onto other countries. This approach does not contribute to solving the problem and will severely impact China-US cooperation on drug control," the spokesperson said.
China has provided support to the US in addressing the fentanyl issue out of humanitarian goodwill and has achieved significant results, according to the spokesperson.
US President Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday while also threatening to impose another 10 percent tariff on imports from China on the same date. The country-by-country reciprocal tariffs will also come into effect on April 2, according to his social media post, marking the Trump administration's latest use of its "tariff stick."
The move drew widespread opposition from its trading partners. A Chinese expert said Friday that Trump's tariffs are having a diminishing impact on China's economy, warning of a backlash against the US, as abuse of tariffs risks decoupling the US from the global trading system and hurting its consumers and industries.
"We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect," Trump said in his post on Truth Social.
Immediately following Trump's new tariff threat, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that Canada "will have an immediate and extremely strong response" if the US imposes tariffs on Canadian imports next Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The EU would "do the same" if the US maintains the 25 percent tariffs announced by Trump, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said on Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, The Guardian reported.
"Even if it is not in the general interest, we too must protect our interests and the interests of the countries of the Union," Lombard said.
This is the latest in Trump's series of tariff measures, including the so-called "reciprocal" tariffs and a decision to impose 25-percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports without exclusions. Lately, the Trump administration also initiated a Section 232 investigation into imports of copper and copper derivatives that may lead to new tariffs.
"Compared with his first term, Trump's protectionist tariff policy now has another goal of collecting money to reduce the US' enormous debt. That's why the Trump administration is in such a rush to impose tariffs on its major trade partners like Canada and Mexico," Bao Jianyun, director of the Center for International Political Economy Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Friday.
Although Trump also further hiked tariffs on Chinese imports citing the fentanyl issue as an excuse, the marginal impact of Trump's tariffs on China's exports, macro-economic growth and industrial chains is tailing off, Bao said.
"Today, the standing of China and the US in global industrial chains and international trade has changed compared with what they were during Trump's first term - China is on the rise while the US is shrinking. In the long term, the US' abuse of tariffs may accelerate the downward trend of the US in global influence," he said, noting that emerging economies and the US' allies may be forced to form a new non-US-dominated trading system.
Huo Jianguo, a vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday that Trump's imposition of more tariffs on China is not unexpected, as it is Trump's tactic for gathering bargaining chips in potential future negotiations with China.
In early February, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 10-percent tariff on goods imported from China, incurring countermeasures. On February 4, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced that China will impose additional tariffs on certain US products starting from February 10. China has filed a complaint with the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism against the US decision to impose an additional 10-percent tariff on goods from China.
Despite growing uncertainties surrounding Trump's trade policies, there is frequent communication between Chinese officials and US business communities, underscoring the resilience of China-US relations.
Commerce Minister Wang Wentao has written a letter to Jamieson Greer, the newly appointed US Trade Representative, congratulating him on his appointment and expressing China's concern on the US tariff policy.
A healthy and sound China-US economic and trade relationship aligns with the common interests of both countries and meets the expectations of the international community, Wang said, according to a statement on the website of China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
