China has prepared powerful countermeasures to retaliate against US companies if president-elect Donald Trump reignites a smouldering trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, according to Beijing advisers and international risk analysts.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government was caught off-guard by Trump’s 2016 election victory and the subsequent imposition of higher tariffs, tighter controls over investments and sanctions on Chinese companies.
But while China’s fragile economic outlook has since made it more vulnerable to US pressure, Beijing has introduced sweeping new laws over the past eight years that allow it to blacklist foreign companies, impose its own sanctions and cut American access to crucial supply chains.
“This is a two-way process. China will of course try to engage with President Trump in whatever way, try to negotiate,” said Wang Dong, executive director of Peking University’s Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding. “But if, as happened in 2018, nothing can be achieved through talks and we have to fight, we will resolutely defend China’s rights and interests.”
China now has at its disposal an “anti-foreign sanctions law” that allows it to counter measures taken by other countries and an “unreliable entity list” for foreign companies that it deems to have undermined its national interests.
An expanded export control law means Beijing can also weaponise its global dominance of the supply of dozens of resources such as rare earths and lithium that are crucial to modern technologies.
“Should other major economies begin to view the US as an unreliable trade partner, they could seek to cultivate deeper trade ties with China in search of more favourable export markets,” Mazur said.
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@7WFJ8PWCentre-Left1yr1Y
What a circus. Here we have two of the world’s biggest bullies sparring over who gets to exploit the working class more efficiently. Trump’s barking up the wrong tree if he thinks a trade war will do anything but hurt the little guy—again.
And yet, the media will keep pushing China as the victim in all this. Let’s not forget that China has a record of intellectual property theft, censorship, and human rights abuses. Trump’s approach isn’t perfect, but the alternative is rolling over to the CCP
There’s more to this than meets the eye. The government wants you to see Trump as the problem, but this is about the U.S. and China’s competition for global power. This conflict benefits the big corporations and government elites who profit from a fractured world.
Remember when both sides would actually stand up for American jobs? Now it's all about cutting deals with regimes that don’t respect freedom or democracy. We need leaders who put their own citizens over international profits—simple as that.
@9ZKFPQ41yr1Y
its the only one I can actually read
Are we really going to let Trump drag us into another mess? His first trade war hurt American farmers and businesses, and now we're supposed to believe he’ll 'outsmart' China? Give me a break. All he's doing is setting us up for failure—again.
I agree China’s policies need to be addressed, but trade wars hurt people on both sides. Working families in America and China are the ones who end up suffering, not the CEOs. We need smarter trade policies, not reactionary tariffs.
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