China's Commerce Ministry strongly cautioned its trading partners against succumbing to US pressure to limit trade with China in return for tariff exemptions. The ministry's statement emphasized that such appeasement would be unproductive and ultimately detrimental.
The warning follows reports that the Trump administration intends to leverage tariff negotiations to pressure US trading partners into isolating China's economy. This strategy involves seeking commitments from these nations to hinder China's trade routes, investments, and cheap exports.
China firmly rejects any agreements reached at its expense, vowing to take resolute countermeasures if such a scenario arises. The statement likened accepting such deals to 'asking a tiger for its skin'.
President Trump's recent decision to temporarily pause tariffs on most countries, while significantly increasing tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, underscores the escalating trade conflict.
Hong Kong CNN  —Â
Beijing has warned its trading partners against succumbing to US pressure to restrict trade with China in exchange for exemption from President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs.
Commenting on recent media reports about US plans to use tariff negotiations to isolate China’s economy, a spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said on Monday: “Appeasement does not bring peace, and compromise does not earn respect.”
“Seeking temporary self-interest at the expense of others — in exchange for so-called exemptions — is like asking a tiger for its skin. In the end, it will achieve nothing and harm both others and oneself,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests. If such a situation arises, China will not accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures,” the spokesperson added.
On April 9, Trump paused his “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries for 90 days while narrowing the focus of his trade war squarely on China, raising levies on Chinese imports to a staggering 145%.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Trump administration planned to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure US trading partners to limit their dealings with China, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the conversations.
The idea is to extract commitments from US trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House, including asking nations to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, prevent Chinese firms from setting up in their territories to avoid US tariffs and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies, the WSJ reported.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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