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.
THE NEW YORK POST | Published March 6, 2025
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.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to China’s threats early Wednesday, telling Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” the US is “prepared” and doing everything he can to deter conflict with China.
“Those who long for peace must prepare for war,” Hegseth said.
Trump tried to justify his tariffs by blaming the foreign nations for the fentanyl and opioid crisis in the US.AP
“That’s why we’re rebuilding our military. That’s why we’re re-establishing deterrence in the warrior ethos. We live in a dangerous world with powerful, ascendant countries with very different ideology.”
“They’re rapidly increasing their defense spending, modern technology, they want to supplant the United States,” he continued. “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong.”
Hegseth’s warning came as Trump doubled down on his decision to roll out sweeping tariffs, claiming “other countries have used tariffs against us for decades.”
Tensions grew stiff between the two nations as Trump bumped up a 10% tariff on Chinese imports to 20%, claiming the trade measure would halt the flow of fentanyl into America.AFP via Getty Images
“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.
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SOURCE: www.nypost.com
RELATED: China warns it’s prepared for ‘any type of war’ with US in response to Trump tariffs
Livid China warns US against intimidation and bullying
Published March 6, 2025
China has warned the US it is ready to fight “any type” of war as it retaliates against Donald Trump’s mounting trade tariffs – while raising spending on its military.
The trade war between the two superpowers escalated on Tuesday as Mr Trump hiked his levies on Chinese goods to a total of 20 per cent, and China retaliated by imposing 15 per cent tariffs on American agricultural goods.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, in a post on X, said: “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.”
The spokesperson was reiterating an earlier statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, issued shortly after Mr Trump’s levies took effect.
The foreign ministry claimed China will fight the US “to the bitter end” if America “persists in waging a tariff war, a trade war, or any other kind of war”.
It comes as China said it will boost its defence spending by 7.2 per cent this year. The increase, announced in a government report due to be released in parliament, matches last year’s figure.
It remains well above China’s economic growth target for this year of roughly 5 per cent. Since Xi Jinping became president more than a decade ago, the defence budget has ballooned to 1.78 trillion yuan (£191.5bn) this year from 720bn yuan in 2013.
Mr Xi aims to complete a full military modernisation by 2035, with China’s military developing new missiles, ships, submarines and surveillance technologies.
Mr Trump has justified fresh tariffs on Chinese goods by blaming Beijing for the fentanyl opioid crisis in the US. He claimed that a “large percentage” of these deadly substances were made in China.
China has accused the White House of “blackmail” over its tariff hike, claiming it actually has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug policies.
Beijing’s foreign ministry lashed out, saying: “Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. 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 miscalculating.”
In his address to the joint session of the US Congress, Mr Trump claimed other countries have used tariffs against the US for decades. “Now it’s our turn to start using them against those other countries. On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada … and countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It’s very unfair,” the president said.
“China’s average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them,” he claimed.
Beijing’s commerce ministry on Tuesday claimed Washington’s “unilateral tax measures seriously violate WTO [World Trade Organisation] rules and undermine the foundation of China-US economic and trade cooperation”. China last month filed a complaint against the US with the WTO for violating trade rules.
Trade relations between the US and China suffered during Mr Trump’s first presidency after he announced tariffs on Beijing over a massive trade surplus in 2018. The resulting two-year trade war hit the world economy, with the global supply chain suffering due to tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods.
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