Trump vs China: 'It is a blood sport'
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Trump is furious, again. This time, it’s China that’s incurred his wrath by daring to subject the US to the same 34% tariff its own exports are now facing. What does the escalation between the superpowers mean for the rest of the world?
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Read time: 5 mins
In brief…
- US imports of Chinese products will face a 104% tariff if Trump goes through with his new promise to subject the country to an additional charge – which China has said it will “fight to the end”.
- The News Agents say Trump is portraying himself as in control of his presidency by controlling media conversation, but is ultimately motivated by his desire for a Nobel Peace Prize.
- As the only country playing hardball with the US, Emily, Jon and Lewis say it is also the only part of the world prepared to weather the economic hardships that could be on the horizon.
What’s the story?
As British politicians try to see the bright side in the outcome of Trump's tariffs, China is taking an entirely different approach.
After the US president slapped China with a 34% tariff on what he called 'liberation day', China hit back by subjecting American imports to the same amount – and prompting a furious response from Trump.
He has threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports if China does not withdraw this by today (8 April) – and said he wants to deter the country from investing more money in its defence systems.
If this goes ahead, imports will be subject to a 104% tariff – the 20% baseline announced at the start of Trump’s term, 34% China-specific, and the 50% backlash tariff.
It’s a figure that would likely make trade between the world’s two biggest economies come to a standstill.
“This is escalating and escalating fast,” says Jon Sopel.
“Does Trump want a solution to this, or does he just love the idea that this is a game of poker that the whole world is watching?”
The UK has been hit with the lowest rate of tariffs, 10%, and Trump is holding talks to negotiate trade deals with various countries around the world to reduce their rates – but says there will be no pause in the tariffs while these deals are secured.
Three months of Trump – has he achieved anything?
What has China said?
The Chinese Commerce Ministry has said its retaliatory tariffs are “completely legitimate”, following the new Trump threats – and suggested it will continue to hit back at Trump if things escalate.
"The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order,” a spokesperson has said.
"The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this.”
“If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end."
Has Trump tried too much, too soon?
During his time in power, Trump has worked on securing peace in Ukraine and Gaza, taking control of Greenland and reviving the US economy with his tariffs.
But none of these have, as yet, succeeded.
“Trump, because he looks energetic and active, and commands the conversation the whole time, we’re lulled into this sense that he's in control,” says Lewis Goodall.
“Biden – who wasn't exerting control either – was quiet and silent, and therefore a narrative built around him, that he was not in control.
“But the truth is, neither were in control.”
Jon believes Trump’s promises of delivering peace in Ukraine and the Middle East have all been part of his ambition of securing himself a Nobel Peace Prize – which Barack Obama was awarded in 2009.
“I would argue that nearly three months in, he is not a millimetre closer to achieving that goal,” he says.
“You look at what's happened, at the steps that have been taken, and you realise how badly thought-through they were and how little they have yielded so far.”
Emily Maitlis describes his return to The White House as a “made-for-TV presidency.”
What’s The News Agents’ take?
While every other country affected by Trump's tariffs waits patiently in line to discuss lowering the new export costs, China has grabbed the bull by the horns – and what comes next is important.
"This is a test case for the rest of the world, and everyone is now wondering what to do in the face of these tariffs – do you cave? Do you try to negotiate, or do you put up a middle finger? China's response is a middle finger," says Emily.
"They're locking horns now in the most visceral, visible way – and it is a blood sport."
China and the US account for 47% of the global economy, and Lewis Goodall describes China as "the big geopolitical and economic story of our lifetime", but all that could be about to change.
"It's hard to believe that in the late 90s / early 2000s China still had a smaller economy than the UK," he says.
A 104% tariff on goods from China would more than double consumer prices in the US, which will have effects reaching far beyond America.
"It will have an enormous impact in the rest of the world, because the trade between those countries, that back and forth with those complicated supply chains, inevitably has huge knock on repercussions."
The only country involved prepared for those repercussions, Jon argues, is China itself.
"These tariffs Trump is imposing will cause enormous economic pain to China, but China has withstood economic pain in the past," he says.
"I don't think America has the readiness to take the sort of pain Donald Trump is about to inflict on the American people if these tariffs remain at this astonishing level.
"There is absolutely no sign whatsoever that the Chinese are going to blink, now that Donald Trump has raised the stakes so publicly and so performatively."
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.
