China is taking a hard line against the recent US tariffs, which impose 34% tariffs on Chinese goods and threaten an additional 50% if the country does not give in to US demands. It stresses that the US tariffs violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and threaten global stability.
In response, China has imposed equivalent 34% tariffs on US goods and filed complaints with the World Trade Organization against the US tariff increases. In addition, China has tightened control over exports of rare earth metals – a crucial lever in the technology industry, as the US gets 70% of these materials from China.
The trade war has already wreaked havoc on the world’s financial markets. More than $10 trillion has been wiped off stock markets since the imposition of tariffs, and oil prices have fallen to their lowest level in two years. According to analysis by Goldman Sachs, the risk of a US recession rises to 45% within a year, with the threat of disrupted supply chains and higher prices for consumers.
Ronald Reagan vs. #tariffs : 1987 speech finds new relevance in 2025pic.twitter.com/CuAMw1eQXN
— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) April 7, 2025
“Economic bullying will backfire”
The Chinese embassy in the US highlights Ronald Reagan’s comments on trade wars. In a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm this weekend, it further emphasizes that US tariffs pose a threat to the multilateral trading system, referring to them as “unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying”. The embassy calls on the international community to condemn what it describes as unilateralism and to protect the WTO system, arguing that “economic bullying will ultimately backfire”.
It also stresses that China, as the world’s second largest economy, intends to continue opening its market and sharing development opportunities with other countries for mutual benefit. In a clear message to Europe, where EU exports are threatened by 20% tariffs from the US, it stresses that “there are no winners in trade or tariff wars” and that protectionism is “a dead end”.