China says it won't back down from Trump's 100 per cent tariff threat
By: By Ken Moritsugu The Associated Press via Canada's Global News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
China says it won't back down from Trump's 100 per cent tariff threat
China signaled Sunday that it would not back down in the face of a 100 per cent tariff threat from President Donald Trump, urging the U.S. to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats. U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended Trump's position and seemed to warn China not to be aggressive in its response.
"China's stance is consistent," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online. "We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one."
It was China's first official comment on Trump's threat to jack up the tax on imports from China by Nov. 1 in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, which are vital to a wide range of consumer and military products.
The back and forth threatens to derail a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and end a truce in a trade war in which new tariffs from both sides briefly topped 100 per cent in April.
In response, Vance said Sunday that Trump is committed to protecting America's economic livelihoods while making the United States more self-sufficient. He said the fact that China has "so much control over critical supply in the United States of America" is the definition of a national emergency and therefore justifies Trump's move to impose tough tariffs.
"It's going to be delicate dance and a lot of it is going to depend on how the Chinese respond. If they respond in a highly aggressive manner, I guarantee you the president of the United States has far more cards than the People's Republic of China," Vance said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."
"If, however, they're willing to be reasonable, then Donald Trump is always willing to be a reasonable negotiator. We're going to find out a lot in the weeks to come about whether China wants to start a trade war with us or whether they actually want to be reasonable," Vance continued. "I hope they choose the path of reason. The president of the United States is going to defend America regardless."
Trump has raised taxes on imports from many U.S. trading partners since taking office in January, seeking to win concessions. China has been one of the few countries that hasn't backed down, relying on its economic clout.
"Frequently resorting to the threat of high tariffs is not the correct way to get along with China," the Commerce Ministry said in its post, which was presented as a series of answers from an unnamed spokesperson to four questions from unspecified media outlets.
The statement called for addressing any concerns through dialogue.
"If the U.S. side obstinately insists on its practice, China will be sure to resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," the post said.
In addition to the 100 per cent tariff, Trump threatened to impose export controls on what he called "critical software," without specifying what that means.
Both sides accuse the other of violating the spirit of the truce by imposing new restrictions on trade.
Trump said in a social media post that China is "becoming very hostile" and that it is holding the world captive by restricting access to rare earth metals and magnets.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry post said the U.S. has introduced several new restrictions in recent weeks, including expanding the number of Chinese companies subject to U.S. export controls.
On rare earths, the ministry said that export licenses would be granted for legitimate civilian uses, noting that the minerals also have military applications.
The new regulations include a requirement that foreign companies get Chinese government approval to export items that contain rare earths sourced from China, no matter where the products are manufactured.
China accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the world's rare earths mining and controls roughly 90 per cent of their global processing. Access to the material is a key point of contention in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
The critical minerals go into many products, from jet engines, radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics including laptops and phones. China's export controls have hit European and other manufacturers, as well as American ones.
The Commerce Ministry statement said that the U.S. is also ignoring Chinese concerns by going forward with new port fees on Chinese ships that take effect Tuesday. China announced Friday that it would impose port fees on American ships in response.
—Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
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Trump started this by imposing new port fees on Chinese ships. So China is just retaliating this new tariff by matching Trump's impositions back and forth, and then Trump and Vance are calling China "aggressive" and "becoming very hostile" notwitihstanding that Trump started the thing and are continuing it. Looks like those settlements between the negotiating teams might very well come to an end over this. I sure wish Canada had the balls that China does to fight back against Trump's bullying.
He has no clue about what he does do.
If that were so, why does he do it?
I suspect he is playing yet another con.
He is using tariffs to generate revenue to fund his ICE initiative. He knows that China is not paying the tariff. His cabinet knows this. Every time they are asked who pays the tariffs they dodge and deflect pitifully.
Trump tells the public that the exporting nation pays tariffs because he believes enough gullible people will believe him and support his consumption tax.
Given that this abysmal character was elected PotUS and we see people defending him no matter what, he just might be correct.
One would think that the general public would know by now that they should not always believe what he says.
Reading comments on this site alone would cause one to question that.
Granted.
This may just be the most important policy of the Trump Presidency.
I'm optimistic that he will at least get the economic part of it right.
Really? Surely you must know that these latest moves are just going to cost the American people, including you. What do you think the effect of such moves will have on the rapprochement and negotiations between the nations started in Switzerland and Sweden?
We are now entering into a trade war between the great consumer nation and what has become the great exporter nation. Unless China can replace the US market it will suffer as much as the US. China may be willing to do that if it can bring about an economic crisis in the US, so for them this is a political calculation. They would much rather have a democrat in the WH.
What do you think the effect of such moves will have on the rapprochement and negotiations between the nations started in Switzerland and Sweden?
I think those are on hold and despite the fact that China/US trade relations are entering into a trade embargo territory, I want you to note something. Chinese diplomats still give the Trump diplomats far more respect than they gave the Biden team. They never treated a Trump official the way they did when Yang Jiechi talked down to Antony Blinken who was then Biden's Secretary of State. I think China recognizes Trump as a worthy opponent.
China is now buying soybeans from Braziil instead of America, and has increased trade elsewhere. It is not afraid of a trade war.
Yes, that will be a big hit, but they won't have the great marketplace either.
It is not afraid of a trade war.
I'm sure it isn't afraid of anything. They can thank Nixon & Clinton and a wide-open country for their rise. They will have victories, but they will no longer be easy.
Growth for this year so far is 4.8% - China is not doing badly in having been required by the USA to develop markets elsewhere. As well, the government has not stopped functioning, and I'm getting along fine. Everything okay where you are?
Same here. Many live through strange times without being touched by it.
China has been buying soybeans from Brazil for a long while. China buys from north and south American sources to maintain a year round supply. (The growing seasons are opposite each other in North and South America.)
Russia is attempting to increase it's output of soybeans to compete with the US in the Chinese market.
Well, okay, but that doesn't change the fact that China is NOT buying soybeans from America as it has done previously, which is costing the farmers and the government to support them, and that is a cost due to Trump's economic policies.
China doesn't have to buy soybeans from the United States regardless of Trump's economic policies. China was only buying about half of US soybean exports. China's refusal to buy US soybeans will lower the price which will make US soybeans more attractive in more markets. The adverse impact is for this season. Next season US soybeans may not be available even if China wants to buy them.
As it happens, China has a huge stockpile of soybeans and is not buying as much from all sources.
Seeding chaos is terrible policy.
Trump is a dangerous buffoon.
This. 100% this.
We are a capitalist economy, which means growth comes from investors deploying capital in hopes of a return. That drives everything from new housing to AI.
Nobody wants to deploy capital amidst chaos.
The only ones using chaos are those resisting Trump.
The goal seems to be that independent voters will say to themselves please make it all go away and somehow, they'll submit to voting for democrats.
That flatly denies reality.
How can you possibly not recognize the chaos that Trump is intentionally (and pointlessly) causing?
Another wild fantasy.
Who are the officials that we heard say: "Shut down the city," "We are at war," "Fight in the streets," this past week?
Who are the officials who shut down the government to show their base total resistance to Trump?
Who are the activist judges who attempted to slow down Trump at every turn?
Who was it that defunded police departments and helped get activist DAs appointed who don't lock up criminals?
Who turned American Justice upside down with lawfare?
I have more when you feel ready to answer those.
You attempt to claim that Trump is not creating chaos by listing some facts and some fantasies about others.
You ignore that Trump is creating chaos at a level and frequency that dwarfs other PotUS':
And worse, you even ignore the most recent, blatant acts by Trump and project it onto others:
How can you not see that Trump is blatantly (tacitly admits it!) engaging in lawfare, violating the rule of law and the CotUS??
Just incredible.
The best way for us to have a discussion is for you to answer my questions.
Here is another:
Who is attacking ICE officers?
No, Vic, your questions are "but what about...?". They are deflecting from the point I made.
There will always be bad / wrong things done by others. That does not change the fact that Trump is, on a weekly basis, creating chaos.
You continue to ignore the bad by Trump.
No, TiG, you cited chaos. I proved exactly where the chaos is coming from.
If you are afraid to go there, I understand.
Enjoy your day.
Just amazing. You cite some facts, some fantasies of wrongdoings and bad decisions by others and ignore what the PotUS is doing.
Do not expect me (or anyone else who can think rationally) to treat delusional nonsense like that seriously.
Therein lies the problem. The United States is held hostage by middlemen. Who was it that gifted the US economy to the financial sector?
In the not too distant past, capitalism wasn't just about the money. And focusing all our attention on Monopoly money fiat currency seems far removed from Adam Smith's economic description of capitalism. Adam Smith was not an advocate of speculative investing, artificial scarcity, or exploiting the interest rate spread.
It's a feature, not a bug. It's why Mississippi has higher per capita income than the United Kingdom.
The real estate people, mostly. But you could throw in any of the people who helped make it cheaper to ship goods in from overseas than make them here. So that's transport people, politicians involved in NAFTA, labor unions, and the millions of Americans who bought cheaper stuff to stretch their dollars.
Don't kid yourself. It's always been about the money. We just didn't used to see such disparity in the ability to earn it.
But that's not the capitalism we're talking about here. I'm talking about the type of capitalism that allows a business to get the money it needs to grow, and then eventually allows average people to participate in ownership of outstanding businesses.
If Trump fails to do more to encourage industrial development in the US then his trade policies will prove to be a disaster. Closing off foreign trade is only a half policy. Without domestic industrial development, Trump's trade policy will prove to be half assed.
So this morning I see that this is my last remaining posted article on the Front (Home) Page. Of course it is about Trump and politics and thei other 6 articles on a variety of topics have been pushed off the page. Okay, time to try to push some of the political articles off the page.
Things may not be so black as recent circumstances seem to predict...
LINK -> China-US officials hold economic talks - World - Chinadaily.com.cn
The commentary on this article is going beyond my ability to moderate it so I think it's time to call it a day. If anyone wants to continue they can open their own article on the topic.