China is escalating its rhetoric towards the U.S. following President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs that increased taxes on Chinese imports from 10 to 20 percent.
“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. 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,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday.
“If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the embassy said on X.
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. delivered a similar message as China quickly imposed a 15 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. agricultural goods.
The Chinese embassy shared a similar message in a follow up post stating that the U.S. should collaborate with China to combat fentanyl.
Users roundly criticized the Chinese Embassy’s posts and replied to them with images of the Taiwan flag and the tank man protester in Tiananmen Square. The Chinese Communist Party does not acknowledge Taiwan’s independence and censors everything having to do with the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
The CCP considers Taiwan to be a rogue territory and is widely expected to invade the country towards the end of this decade. In such a scenario, the U.S. could provide significant economic and military support for Taiwan’s cause, while rallying other allies in the Indo-Pacific.
President Trump has said the production of fentanyl was a motivating factor for imposing the new tariffs on China alongside 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports. Fentanyl and its precursor chemicals are often produced in China before being shipped to Mexico and trafficked across the southern border.
The Chinese government countered Trump’s assertions with a white paper on China’s apparent efforts to control fentanyl production. The white paper argues that China has imposed strict controls over fentanyl and related substances, and is promoting a cooperative approach with the U.S. to deal with the issue.
Trump defended his tariffs during his address to Congress Tuesday night, arguing that other countries have ripped off the U.S. for decades and it is now America’s turn to use trade policy for its own benefit.
“We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth and we will not let that happen any longer,” Trump said.
Markets responded negatively to Trump’s tariffs Tuesday as many economists expect them to drive up prices, exacerbating the inflation Trump inherited from former President Joe Biden. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested Tuesday that tariff relief could be on the way imminently, a possibility Trump did not mention in his speech.