The casualness with which the Donald Trump administration can impose punitive tariffs on imports from major trading partners of the United States only does a disservice to the country itself through harming its immediate economic interests and shaking the foundations of the world trade order.
In the latest such move, the US president unexpectedly flagged an additional 10 percent duty on Chinese imports on Thursday, on top of the 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods that was imposed earlier last month. The new tariff, which is due to be imposed on Tuesday, came shortly after some visiting European leaders told Washington that the primary goal of the US should be its tariffs on China.
About 90 percent of the cost of the additional tariffs imposed by the US on China over the past few years has been borne by US consumers and companies, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, whose studies show that the US' punitive tariffs on China increased the procurement costs of intermediate products for the US manufacturing industry by 13 percent. Other studies point to the same thing.
But the Trump administration has chosen to prevaricate on that key issue, trying to hoodwink the US people to believe that the tariffs can help "Make America Great Again".
The additional tariffs Trump imposed on China, starting from 2018 during his first term, which were carried on by the previous US administration, have failed to reduce China's surplus against the US, which rose from $323.33 billion to $361 billion between 2018 and 2024. Nor have they helped reshore industries from overseas, due to the squeezing effect of the US' financial capital and the US' strong dollar policy.
So the latest excuse the US administration has found to justify its tariffs on China has become more absurdly overstretched: China is responsible for the US' fentanyl crisis.
Hitting back at Trump's comments on Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that Chinese laws on drugs were among the strictest in the world and Washington was "shifting the blame and shirking responsibility" for a problem of its own making.
"The fentanyl issue is the United States' own problems on regulation at home," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. As early as 2019, China took the lead in the world in implementing the whole-category control of fentanyl-related substances, becoming the first country in the world to formally control fentanyl-related substances as a whole category. The 2023 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime clearly pointed out that the antidrug cooperation between China and the US has increased the interception of illegal fentanyl precursor chemicals by 47 percent year-on-year, and this achievement has been recognized by multilateral organizations such as Interpol.
"The fentanyl issue is just an excuse the US uses to impose tariffs on, pressure and blackmail China, and they punish us for helping them," Lin said. "This will not solve their concerns. It is only counterproductive and will deal a heavy blow to the dialogue and cooperation with China on counternarcotics." Reducing the domestic demand for the drug and strengthening law enforcement cooperation are the fundamental solutions to the US' fentanyl crisis.
The US administration's love of tariffs has also resulted in a beggar-thy-neighbor scramble for damage limitation. As shown by Mexico proposing to match the US tariffs aimed at China in exchange for the US administration showing it lenience. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent even encouraged Canada to follow Mexico's lead in matching US tariffs on Chinese goods in an interview with the media on Friday.
"I think it would be a nice gesture if the Canadians did it also — so in a way, we could have fortress North America from the flood of Chinese imports that's coming out of the most unbalanced economy in the history of modern times," Bessent said.
Instead of resorting to adversarial tactics, nations should embrace dialogue, cooperation, and mutual understanding to address trade imbalances and foster inclusive growth. Only through collaboration and shared prosperity can a more resilient, equitable, and interconnected global economy be built from which all can benefit. There are no winners in a tariff war. But China will not give in to pressure and blackmail. The US, or any other country, implementing tariff attacks against China in the blind belief that serves their own interests, should be prepared for countermeasures.
