China Pledges a Trade Fight to the End

China has toughened up its rhetoric amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff increases. Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that if the United States “insists on a tariff war, trade war or any other war, China will fight to the end”—a statement reiterated by state media and embassy social media accounts.

With Trump flip-flopping on his trade threats against Canada, Mexico, and other countries, China remains the only consistent target of escalating tariffs, which now average 33 percent on Chinese goods. China is now throwing its weight around, with new tariffs against Canada aimed at dissuading it from giving in to U.S. demands to place tariffs on Chinese goods.

With little end in sight to Trump’s trade wars, the Chinese government might be prepared to fight to the end, but it is uncertain whether the Chinese public feels the same. Serious trade wars in part reflect a government’s trust that the public will tolerate the pain that they cause, whether it comes in more expensive or unavailable goods, lost jobs, or slumping stock markets.

It’s worth noting that, until 2020, China had experienced four decades of a boom economy, with bad times largely regionally confined. That ended harshly under COVID-19 lockdowns, when the public’s tolerance for suffering proved to have limits.

Read more in today’s China Brief: China Leans Into Trade War