After the United States’ second 10% tariffs on Chinese goods took effect Tuesday, China retaliated by imposing 10% to 15% tariffs on certain U.S. agricultural imports, as well as export bans on 15 U.S. firms. China also filed a dispute complaint against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization. China’s tough gesture has won support from most Chinese netizens, who said that China will never back down.
After the United States imposed a second 10% import tariff on Chinese goods at 1:00 p.m. Beijing time on March 4, China also retaliated for the second time. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance of China issued a written announcement, introducing the following three countermeasures, mainly targeting U.S. agricultural products, military technology companies and international trade disputes.
Imposing tariffs on US products: China’s State Council Tariff Commission stated that it will impose additional tariffs on some imported goods originating from the United States from March 10, including a 15% tariff on chicken, wheat, corn, cotton and other goods, and a 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and other goods.
Sanctions on 15 US companies: China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that 15 US companies will be included in the export control blacklist, involving defense technology fields such as ship design, artificial intelligence, communications, and aviation. Including Leidos, Gibbs & Cox, IP Video Market Info, etc. These companies are immediately prohibited from purchasing civilian and military items from China, and in special circumstances, they need to apply for a license from the Ministry of Commerce.
Filing a lawsuit with the WTO: A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce issued another statement saying, “China has sued the United States under the WTO dispute settlement mechanism,” and expressed “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition” to the United States’ unilateral tariffs that undermine economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
In addition, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, made a statement at a press conference held by Chinese and foreign journalists on Tuesday. He said that differences between China and the United States are inevitable, but they should respect each other’s core interests and jointly find solutions.
Lou Qinjian said: “We are willing to resolve our respective concerns through dialogue and consultation with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit, but we will never accept pressure and threats.”
Chinese netizens strongly support: calling for “fighting to the end”
Lou Qinjian expressed goodwill for the US-China dialogue, but his words were soft but firm, and won overwhelming support from Chinese netizens. In particular, the search term #China will never accept pressure and threats# attracted more than 59 million views as of 8 p.m. that day. Together with other topics related to China’s tariff countermeasures, they all topped the Weibo hot search list that day. In addition to echoing the official position of “never compromise,” most Chinese netizens also made anti-US statements full of patriotic sentiments. For example, a Hunan Weibo netizen named “Chicha Xingzhe” left a message: China’s “hard fist is the hard truth.”
Guangdong netizen “Nanshe Shenlan” threatened: “The US should not misjudge the situation and test the red line! If it is really stubborn, we will fight to the end.”
Another Guangdong netizen “李沁_郑秦文金满冠” also firmly told the United States to “go ahead… I am not afraid of a 60% tariff.”
However, the rising tariffs on exports to the United States may have brought an impact on Chinese exporters, and they are actively looking for ways to maintain sales.
Huang, the foreign trade manager of the Louvre International Furniture Expo Center in Foshan, Guangdong, told VOA that U.S. tariffs have increased from 25% in 2019 to 45% today, including anti-dumping duties of up to 200% on some items. These have always been paid by U.S. importers, and Chinese furniture manufacturers will not absorb them. However, if the purchase volume is large enough, manufacturers may be able to provide higher bargaining space.
Huang, a businessman, said: “It was originally 25%, then (in February) it increased by 10%, (to) 35% now, and some furniture parts have anti-dumping duties of more than 200%, so it must be paid by (US) importers. (Bargaining space) depends on whether you have a full container (sea container) or a container consolidation (in) France, what your status is in the United States, how many cubic meters of furniture you want, what kind of furniture, do you have a list of these? Then we can discuss in detail.”
Huang said that if the goods are purchased in bulk by individual buyers, there is almost no room for negotiation, and the American customers will pay for the tariffs. However, if the purchase volume is large, she can consider factors such as furniture style and sea container volume and give a more favorable discount, which is equivalent to helping American customers absorb part of the tariffs in disguise.
A wholesaler named Lin from Yiwu, Zhejiang, told VOA that after the U.S. imposed a 10% tariff on China in early February, his U.S. orders for small commodities such as clothing and household items have not fluctuated significantly. As for how much his U.S. orders will be affected after the second 10% tariff in March, it remains to be seen. However, he said that the unit price of textiles such as clothing is not high, and he estimated that there is about a five-fold price difference between U.S.-made products and Chinese-made products. Therefore, in the short term, it is more cost-effective for U.S. customers to purchase from China.
However, wholesaler Lin said that the US tariffs have indeed intensified competition among Chinese manufacturers. In fact, some Chinese manufacturers have moved their products to Mexico or other Southeast Asian countries for transshipment as early as the US-China Tariff War 1.0 a few years ago to circumvent US tariffs and maintain their low-price advantage.
