The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
China blasts Trump’s ‘reckless’ threat of $60B in import tariffs
BEIJING — China’s government slammed President Donald Trump on Friday for a “reckless” threat to impose tens of billions of dollars in import tariffs, as global stock markets slid on fears that this could be the start of a wider trade war.
Trump threatened to slap tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports Thursday. China announced a more modest package of potential tariffs of its own and vowed to “fight to the end” to defend its interests if a trade war breaks out.
Tokyo’s main Nikkei share index was down more than 4 percent Friday, while share indexes in Shanghai and Seoul fell by more than 3 percent, following similar declines on Wall Street overnight.
In trading Friday, U.S. stocks plunged again, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing almost 425 points, or about 1.8 percent.
China claimed that the slides back its stance.
“I think this represents a vote of no-confidence in the relevant U.S. policies and actions,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. “It also demonstrated that the international community is concerned about the recklessness and danger of U.S. policies and actions.”
Some people in the United States, she told a news conference, were “a little bit arrogant” and have “totally underestimated” both China’s resolve and the cost the United States would have to pay in the event of a more serious dispute.
Trump has given his administration 15 days to come up with a list of tariffs, after which there would be 30 days of public consultation,
and almost certainly intense lobbying from within the United States.
But officials say they are determined to press ahead with what one called “a long-overdue attempt to rectify what for a very, very long time has been a very imbalanced commercial relationship.”
That will almost certainly spell a further escalation of tensions.
“If the tariffs go ahead as planned, then we believe China will retaliate. It is impossible to imagine that they cannot,” Robert Carnell, head of Asia Pacific Research at ING in Singapore, wrote in a client note. “And then we expect the U.S. to retaliate further. This can turn ugly on a global scale very quickly.”
Hours after Trump’s announcement, China’s Commerce Ministry gave the first indication of potential targets for retaliation, which it linked to Trump’s earlier move to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
It said it has compiled a list of 120 products worth nearly $1 billion, including fresh fruit and wine, upon
which it would impose a 15 percent tariff if the two countries fail to resolve their trade differences “within a stipulated time.” It added that a 25 percent tariff on other goods, including pork and aluminum, could be imposed “after further evaluating the impact of U.S. measures on China.”
Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics, said Beijing was sending a “carefully calibrated” message that it will stand up to Trump, while trying not to escalate the spat into a confrontation that could seriously threaten the global trading system.
“The larger part of China’s strategy, though, is to position itself as the good guy in the global economy, protecting the rules of the game from Trump’s lawless attacks,” he said.
Wei Jianguo, a former vice commerce minister, said China already has a second and third list of possible tariffs ready.
He said China would target states and industries that are important to Trump, such as autos, planes, IT and semiconductors, wheat, corn and soybeans.