Chinese media mocks Trump as a ‘fool’ over $50bn tariffs
China ridiculed US unilateralism yesterday after the government of President Donald Trump said it would impose tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Late on Friday, China said it would impose additional 25 per cent tariffs on 659 US goods worth $50bn (D183.65bn), in response to Mr Trump’s move.
“The wise man builds bridges, the fool builds walls,” the official Xinhua news agency said in an editorial, repeating that China would defend its interests in a trade war.
“Following the path of expanding and opening up is China’s best response to the trade dispute between China and the US, and is also the responsibility that major countries should have to the world,” it said.
An editorial in the ruling Communist Party’s official
People’s Daily condemned what it called the US government’s “obsession with playing the disgraceful role of global economic disruptor”.
“There is no winner in a trade war and the US instigation of a trade war is extremely destructive to global trade, economic globalisation, multilateral trade systems and global production supply chains,” it said.
“The whole world will be picking up the bill for the mistaken acts of US unilateralism.”
The Global Times, a tabloid run by the People’s Daily, said it was “an irresponsible act on behalf of the White House to disrupt international trade just to appeal to American voters who are convinced their president is fighting for them”.
The official English-language
China Daily said the measure was “a stark violation of the core spirit of recent trade talks between China and the US, and is set to backfire if Washington doesn’t back off from its dangerous adventurism”.
While calling Mr Trump’s government “inconsistent and precarious”, it expressed hope that a trade war might yet be averted.
“Given the frequent flip-flopping of the Trump administration, it is still too early to conclude that a trade war will start,” the editorial said.
“China welcomes dialogue and is not afraid of trade war threats.”
Reaction on Chinese social media to the tariffs was muted, failing to break into the top 100 trending topics on Weibo.
Friday’s list of goods on which China is to impose tariffs is longer than the list announced on April 4, but the total value remains $50bn.
China will first impose tariffs on 545 US goods worth $34bn on July 6. Affected products include beef, pork, poultry, fish and seafood, dairy products, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, nuts, sorghum, other grains, soybeans, orange juice, tobacco, and conventional, hybrid and electric cars and buses.
The country has not yet announced a date when the tariffs on the remaining 114 goods worth $16bn, which include crude oil, natural gas, coal, some refined oil products and medical equipment, will come in to effect.
Aircraft featured on the April list, but were not on the revised list.