Trump’s tariffs on Beijing fuel US-China tensions

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China fuel tensions between Washington and Beijing, as Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on the country after having already tariffed Chinese goods alongside tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Trump, in his second term, imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China. The president has been pointing to April 2, which he called the “Liberation Day,” to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that retaliated.

Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries range from 10% to 50%, and the list includes the US’ many trading partners.

China was subjected to 34% reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday when Trump signed the executive order to impose the reciprocal tariffs. Washington’s move led to concerns that trade wars may deepen even further and that global trade may be disrupted.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry opposed this move and said it will take countermeasures, calling the reciprocal tariffs “typical unilateral bullying,” according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.

“History shows that increasing tariffs cannot solve the United States' own problems,” a ministry spokesperson said. “It harms U.S. interests and endangers global economic development as well as industrial and supply chain stability.”

Uncertainties came to the fore in the global market amid China’s potential retaliation to the reciprocal tariffs, while the US maintains its trade protectionist stance. Technology, automotive, and industrial sectors are directly impacted by the tensions derived from these developments.

Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and the first tariffs that were imposed affected China’s exports.

Chinese exports to the US had soared 15.6% year-on-year in December 2024 and 2.3% in the first two months of 2025, while China’s imports fell 8.4% on an annual basis in January and February to $369.43 billion, the sharpest decline since July 2023.

China’s foreign trade surplus reached $170.5 billion in the first two months of the year.

Protectionist trade serves no sides

Baris Aric, chief of the Türkiye-based China Trade Association, told Anadolu that these protectionist trade decisions will further disrupt the trade balance in the world, recalling that similar tariffs were imposed in 2018-2019, and the trade wars began 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 said. “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 noted. “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 stated that Beijing has been preparing against the US tariffs for a long time now, especially by diversifying its export markets by turning to alternatives, such as 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 said.

“Rising tariffs fuel stagflation risks in some countries but they also pose a new threat to economies struggling against inflation,” he noted.

Aric highlighted that these new reciprocal tariffs on Beijing and China’s moves against the decision escalated uncertainties in global trade, 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 mentioned. “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.