The US-China trade war has reached a critical juncture, with the United States faulting China’s retaliatory tariffs and calling for a reassessment of trade policies.
The US government deemed China’s retaliation against its tariffs a huge mistake, as the global trade war, ignited by President Donald Trump’s sweeping levies.
Trump had previously imposed tariffs on Chinese imports and over 50 other nations, prompting China to respond with its own set of tariffs on US products.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized Beijing in a Tuesday interview, emphasizing that US negotiations with other countries on tariffs are driven by their initiatives, not global market instability.
“I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation,” he stated. When asked about the European Union’s non-tariff barriers, including value-added taxes, Bessent said, “Everything is on the table.”
Meanwhile, China has refused to yield to what it perceives as “blackmail” after Trump threatened to increase tariffs on US imports from the world’s second-largest economy to over 100% in response to China’s decision to match “reciprocal” duties announced last week.
“The U.S. side’s threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side’s blackmailing nature,” China’s Commerce Ministry said.
As the world’s two biggest economy trades blow, the European Union is also still consulting with member states on how hard to punch back against Trump’s tariffs without causing more harm to its consumers and exporters.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a phone call with China’s Premier Li Qiang, called on Beijing to ensure a negotiated solution and stressed the need to support a fair trading system founded on a level playing field.
The two also discussed setting up a mechanism to track possible trade diversion caused by the tariffs, von der Leyen’s office said, as the EU fears China will redirect cheap exports from the U.S. to Europe.
