China Reacts to Trump's Tariff War

Five experts with different backgrounds, each addressing a different audience and broadly reflecting prevailing views in China on the current trade war with the US.

Beijing’s official response has been resolute and defiant. The Ministry of Commerce declared on Tuesday that China will “fight to the end”. In a post on X, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Mao Ning affirmed that “we don’t back down”, accompanied by a video of Mao Zedong himself vowing to continue fighting in the Korean War for as long as was necessary. President Xi emphasised China’s strength: the country’s economy – a “great sea, not a small pond” – will withstand strong winds and rainstorms. Although officials acknowledge that US tariffs will be painful, they seek to reassure that, to use the People’s Daily’s chosen idiom, the “sky will not fall in“.

Chinese netizens are more concerned with what comes from the ground. Prices are expected to rise on goods made from agricultural products such as soybeans, of which the US is one of the world’s major exporters. Popular American brands will also become more expensive in China. Yet for some, there is a silver lining: an opportunity…