United States ruler Donald Trump has often claimed that the tariffs will boost the U.S. economy, while others have labeled it a trade war. Trump has now finally admitted that Washington and Beijing are embroiled in a trade war.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump was asked if a failure to reach a trade deal with China’s Xi Jinping would mean a prolonged trade war. Trump replied: “Well, you’re in one now… We have 100% tariff. If we didn’t have tariffs, we would be exposed as being a nothing… Tariffs are a very important tool for our defense, for our national security.”
Commenting on the stand-off with the U.S., Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated that “tariff wars and trade wars have no winners” and called for resolving issues “through consultation on the basis of equality, respect, and mutual benefit.”
Trade War, Tariffs Driving Economic Uncertainty
According to a report by RT, earlier this year, Trump drastically raised the “reciprocal tariffs” for China, which in certain cases exceeded 100%, although he later suspended the hike to allow trade talks to proceed, with the pause now extended until November 10. The current baseline tariff for China is now at 10%, although some goods face higher rates.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed earlier this week that Trump and Xi are still scheduled to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea in late October.
Tariffs Won’t Spawn Good Trade Deals
Meanwhile, in another sign of escalating tensions, Trump announced on Tuesday that the U.S. would stop buying cooking oil from China, casting it as a response to Beijing paring back U.S. soybean purchases, according to a report by Reuters.
“I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act. We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution,” Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday.