US President Donald Trump‘s tariffs on China gas tensions between Washington and Beijing, as Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on the nation after having already tariffed Chinese items alongside tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Trump, in his second time period, imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China. The president has been pointing to April 2, which he referred to as the “Liberation Day,” to impose reciprocal tariffs on nations that retaliated.
Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on over 180 nations vary from 10% to 50%, and the checklist contains the US’ many buying and selling companions.
China was subjected to 34% reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday when Trump signed the manager order to impose the reciprocal tariffs. Washington’s transfer led to issues that commerce wars might deepen even additional and that international commerce could also be disrupted.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry opposed this transfer and mentioned it should take countermeasures, calling the reciprocal tariffs “typical unilateral bullying,” in line with a report by the Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.
“History shows that increasing tariffs cannot solve the United States’ own problems,” a ministry spokesperson mentioned. “It harms U.S. interests and endangers global economic development as well as industrial and supply chain stability.”
Uncertainties got here to the fore within the international market amid China’s potential retaliation to the reciprocal tariffs, whereas the US maintains its commerce protectionist stance. Technology, automotive, and industrial sectors are straight impacted by the tensions derived from these developments.
Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and the primary tariffs that have been imposed affected China’s exports.
Chinese exports to the US had soared 15.6% year-on-year in December 2024 and a couple of.3% within the first two months of 2025, whereas China’s imports fell 8.4% on an annual foundation in January and February to $369.43 billion, the sharpest decline since July 2023.
China’s overseas commerce surplus reached $170.5 billion within the first two months of the yr.
– PROTECTIONIST TRADE SERVES NO SIDES
Baris Aric, chief of the Türkiye-based China Trade Association, instructed Anadolu that these protectionist commerce choices will additional disrupt the commerce stability on the planet, recalling that comparable tariffs have been imposed in 2018-2019, and the commerce wars started with China’s retaliation.
“We can see from the reports in the following years that such policies narrowed the US-China trade volume and did not help to permanently close the trade deficit,” he mentioned. “US imports from China and Chinese exports to the US fell at similar rates but the trade balance was unchanged.”
“Agricultural, technology, and industrial sectors were particularly hit, as US soybean exports to China fell significantly and China turned to other suppliers,” he famous. “Chinese producers reduced US imports and opted for alternative markets—given this, a similar tariff policy by Trump is likely to decrease the trade volume again but it will not bring a meaningful improvement to the trade deficit.”
“(These protectionist trade decisions) do not serve the economic interests of either side and previous results can attest to that—trade wars between such players lead to victories for no side,” he added.
– CHINA TO ‘INEVITABLY RESPOND TO THIS HARSH MOVE’
Aric acknowledged that Beijing has been getting ready in opposition to the US tariffs for a very long time now, particularly by diversifying its export markets by turning to options, such because the EU, Africa, and South Asia.
“The Trump admin’s total tariffs on China reached 54%, when we add the new 34% reciprocal tariffs to the previous 20% tariffs, and China will inevitably respond to this harsh move to target the US agriculture, machinery, and auto sectors, and even more tariff hikes in its tech, oil, and gas businesses,” he mentioned.
“Rising tariffs fuel stagflation risks in some countries but they also pose a new threat to economies struggling against inflation,” he famous.
Aric highlighted that these new reciprocal tariffs on Beijing and China’s strikes in opposition to the choice escalated uncertainties in international commerce, emphasizing that investor confidence is falling.
“Restoring this will take time, which means that a decline in investments is expected on a global scale for some time,” he talked about. “The global economy will be affected by this trade war between the two world-leading powers.”
“Although a decline in economic growth was not expected at first, a slowdown is anticipated—if this tension keeps rising, economic growth can also come under pressure,” he added.
Source: www.anews.com.tr