China warned it is ready for any “type of war” with the US in an alarming escalation as President Trump’s tariffs went into effect.
“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 Jian said late Tuesday.
Tensions grew stiff between the two nations on Tuesday as Trump bumped up a 10% tariff on Chinese imports to 20%, claiming the trade measure would halt the flow of fentanyl into America.
Jian’s statement, reiterated on X by the Chinese embassy in Washington, cautioned that “intimidation” and “bullying” would not work — as China also imposed a 15% tariff on American agricultural goods.
“Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculation,” the spokesperson said.
Trump has justified his tariffs — 25% on Canadian and Mexican products and 20% on Chinese goods — by blaming the foreign nations for the fentanyl and opioid crisis in the US, saying they haven’t done enough to crack down on deadly and illicit fentanyl imports to justify pausing the tariffs.
China fired back, saying if the US “truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue,” the “right thing to do” would be to consult China with mutual respect.
Jian also defended China’s retaliatory 15% tariff on American goods, saying the country “has made clear its opposition” to the tariffs but must “defend our rights and interests.”
In his address to the joint session of the US Congress Tuesday night, Trump doubled down on his decision to roll out sweeping tariffs, claiming “other countries have used tariffs against us for decades.”
“And now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries,” Trump told Congress.
Meanwhile, experts fear the cost of food and automobiles, among other goods, will swell as a result of the tariffs.
The tariffs will apply to about $1.4 trillion in Mexican, Canadian and Chinese imports, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
Trump also announced Monday that he would be adopting agricultural tariffs on April 2 to slap “reciprocal” levies on other countries, including European allies and Japan.
