For China ‘the American taxes will cause a shock, but heaven will not fall down’

China longs « desperately » for a deal with the United States to end the trade war that was full of this week, written US President Donald Trump on Tuesday on his favorite blog platform Truth Social. « We are waiting for their phone call. It will happen! »

But for the time being, China does not seem to be at all to call the White House. Last week the country answered the Extra American import tax of 34 percent on almost all Chinese products By imposing the same import levy for American products. And when the US punished that increase on Tuesday by adding another 50 percent on top, Beijing immediately returned with the same currency on Wednesday. The same day, Trump announced a new rate increase via Truth Social, which means that the total levy for China goes from 104 to 125 percent immediately.

« If the US really wants to solve this issue through dialogue and negotiation, they must show that they can treat others equivalent, with respect and an eye for shared interests, » said A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday in Beijing. « If it is determined to fight a trade war, China will continue to respond to the end. »

XI does not want to give the impression that he has Trump sollen

For example, the first and second economy in the world opt for a tough confrontation for the time being, in which both parties do not want to blink the first eyes. China connoisseur Ryan Hass, member of the National Security Council under President Obama, be there in one Post on X On that not only economic reasons play a role on China. « (The Chinese leader) XI (…) will go far to protect his image as a defender of the national honor and pride. He does not want to give the impression at home and abroad that he is having trump sollen. »

Soy export

Yet the door is always ajar: before Beijing announced the new levy of another 50 percent later on Wednesday, the Ministry of Commerce published a ‘White Paper’ About the trade between the two countries. It writes that the Chinese trade surplus is not the result of conscious policy, but « structural problems in the US economy. » « Unilateral measures » are counterproductive, warns the ministry, which calls for « dialogue based on equality. »

In the event of a long -term tax struggle, China is indeed at a disadvantage. Since it imports much less from the US than the other way around, the Chinese taxes in America are less getting, although specific sectors can be hit hard. In 2024, China mainly bought electronics, fossil fuels and soy in the US. For the latter product, China is even the most important market for American farmers, with a value of almost 12 billion euros last year.

And although China has reduced its dependence on export to the United States in recent years, it is still an important pillar of the Chinese economy. A hoped repair After the Corona Pandemie in China, the domestic spending was largely absorbed. A Chinese blogger called on the government improve purchasing power. « If this is a war, give the people bullets. »

Fentanyl

But China has other weapons in his arsenal in addition to taxes. On Chinese blogs, different lists of reprisals that could meet the country even more. Two prominent Chinese influencers – editor Liu Hong from Staatspersbureau Xinhua and ‘Chairman Konijn’the blogging grandson of the influential Chinese politician Ren Zhongyi – posted the same list of possible countermeasures on Tuesday. It contained, apart from taxes and sanctions, a ban on Hollywood films and an investigation into unfair benefits that the US would get from the protection of intellectual property. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing did not want to comment on Tuesday the question Whether the two bloggers were perhaps part of a campaign orchestrated by the government, and whether the measures mentioned are indeed being considered.

Provid countermeasure For example, there are output restrictions on crucial raw materials to the United States. Beijing has previously restricted the export of tungsten, antimony, gallium and germanium. They are important in, among other things, the production of semiconductors and in the aerospace industry. The country has important stocks of such raw materials.

The American companies can also bother with investigations, limits or placement on sanction listsas did this Wednesday. And China can suspend the collaboration with Washington on the fight against Fentanyl. This very addictive drug makes many victims in the US due to overdoses, and Trump reproaches China too little to curb the trade in components of the synthetic opioid. At the beginning of this year, that was even the American justification for two previous taxes of 10 percent each on Chinese import.

‘Heaven does not fall down’

« The Chinese leaders understand that it is economically expensive to hold its way. They prepare the public to endure the pain, » wrote China expert Hass on X. This is evident from the comment that it Volksdagblad Monday On the front page put: « The American levies will cause a shock, but heaven will not fall down. » According to the Chinese party newspaper, the measures will cause « downward pressure on the economy », but « we have great resilience. »

Despite all the militant rhetoric living in China, it is indeed worried about the consequences for Chinese citizens. « Some people have nothing to fear, so they cherish the heroic thought that heaven does not fall down. Those those wars do not have to go to the battlefield, those who don’t care about money, check the printing press, » wrote a blogger On WeChat.

With the cooperation of Tabitha Speelman

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