BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. tariffs will inflict significant harm on the U.S. economy as other countries hit back with “high tariffs” on American goods, Chinese state media warned, leaving the door open for more measures by Beijing as another wave of levies looms.
Barely two months after returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has triggered trade conflicts with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Trump is also threatening reciprocal tariffs on every country that taxes U.S. imports, with those levies potentially kicking in on April 2.
China swiftly responded with countermeasures in February and March when two rounds of Trump tariffs took effect. And Beijing is widely expected to quickly react to the April tariffs should they come to pass.
“In response to U.S. tariffs, its trading partners will not sit idly by,” the nationalist Chinese tabloid Global Times wrote in an editorial on Tuesday.
“Retaliating with high tariffs on U.S. exports could become an option for many countries.”
Beijing has slapped retaliatory levies on U.S. agriculture and food exports, placed export and investment curbs on 25 U.S. firms, suspended soybean import licences of three U.S. firms and halted imports of U.S. logs.
China also launched probes into some U.S. fibre optic products.
To help foreign companies based in China resist “external shocks”, its commerce ministry will take a series of measures to help them expand sales in the country, according to Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
“Many countries are actively seeking to diversify their economic partnerships and reduce their reliance on the U.S. by forging new trade alliances,” Global Times said.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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