Taipei, Taiwan – As United States President Donald Trump kicks off a new trade war with China, analysts say he will face a much stronger and more prepared adversary in Beijing compared with his first term in office.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has already imposed a 20 percent tariff on Chinese imports, citing Beijing’s alleged failure to curb the export of the deadly opioid fentanyl to the US.
The tariff comes on top of previous duties imposed by Trump and former US President Joe Biden on more than $400bn worth of Chinese goods.
After condemning the latest US tariffs as “bullying” and “intimidation,” Beijing hit back last week by announcing tariffs of 10-15 percent on numerous US agricultural goods, including corn, beef, pork, dairy and soybeans.
The tariffs, which went into effect on Monday, followed Beijing’s announcement last month of a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery, pick-up trucks, and some cars, and a 15 percent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas.
“If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jiang told reporters last week.
While the tit-for-tat measures recall Trump’s first trade war in 2018, both Washington and Beijing are facing very different conditions today than seven years ago.
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