Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that Beijing will continue its retaliatory measures against President Donald Trump’s “arbitrary tariffs,” accusing the U.S. of “meeting good with evil.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. doubled its tariffs on Chinese imports to 20 percent. China in return imposed additional 15 percent duties on American goods, including chicken, pork, soy, and beef. Beijing also expanded restrictions on key U.S. companies.
After the increased tariffs took effect, China warned the U.S. it will fight “a tariff war, a trade war, or any other type of war” until the very end. The foreign adversary is doubling down on its threats.
“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” Wang said at a press conference. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
Trump levied the tariffs against China to ensure it cooperates with U.S. efforts to curb fentanyl smuggling across the southern border. Beijing maintains it has cracked down on exports of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals in recent years and says illegal drug use in the U.S. is a domestic problem.
“The U.S. should not pay kindness with resentment, let alone impose tariffs without reason. This is not how a responsible major country behaves,” Wang said, noting U.S.-China economic and trade ties are “mutual and reciprocal.”
“If you choose to cooperate, you can achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results,” he added. “If you use only pressure, China will firmly counter.”
Beyond China, Trump initially slapped 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada this week before ultimately coming to an agreement that the two North American allies should be exempted from the trade taxes until April 2, when Trump will enact reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations that tax U.S. imports, China included.
Canada placed tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods in the hopes of forcing the U.S. to scrap its existing and future tariffs. After speaking with outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it seems Trump doesn’t want to budge.
Meanwhile, Mexico has yet to retaliate with measures of its own. Because it doesn’t have tariffs on American goods, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the U.S. doesn’t need to charge its southern ally reciprocal tariffs as long as neither country imposes tariffs on the other.
Mexican and Canadian imports that fall under the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement won’t be taxed until next month. About 50 percent of Mexican imports and 38 percent of Canadian imports are covered by the North American trade agreement, according to a White House official. Trump has said he intends to carry out the reciprocal tariffs, staring April 2.
China, which has not been exempted from the tariffs, is a primary producer of fentanyl and the drug’s precursor chemicals before they are shipped to Mexico and trafficked mainly across the southern border.
The southern border accounts for 98 percent of all fentanyl seizures, while less than 1 percent of fentanyl is seized along the northern border. Over 7,790 pounds of fentanyl have been seized in the U.S. since September, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Trump, a staunch proponent of tariffs, told a joint session of Congress on Tuesday that the trade policies are justified because foreign nations have taxed the U.S. at high rates for decades. The president pointed to the European Union, China, Brazil, India, and Canada as examples of countries that charge “tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them.”