Henry Gao
On April 2, President Donald J. Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on nearly every country, ranging from 10 to 49 percent. Just a week later, the tariffs were suspended for all but one country: China. Beijing has responded in kind, matching each U.S. tariff hike step for step. After the initial 34 percent U.S. tariff, China imposed an equivalent countermeasure, prompting Trump to raise the rate to 84 percent, which Beijing matched once again. This tit-for-tat exchange culminated in the United States raising tariffs to 125 percent on April 10, with China immediately mirroring the increase the following day. When combined with existing tariffs, Chinese imports now face potential duties as high as 170 percent.
China is eager to broadcast its resolve to stand firm against U.S. pressure. To that end, it has launched a coordinated propaganda campaign emphasizing that it holds the stronger hand in the trade war. A prominent example is an editorial in People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. Titled “Focus on Doing Your Own Things,” the piece acknowledges that America’s “abusive tariffs” could hurt exports and add pressure to the economy in the short term—but insists that “the sky can’t collapse.”
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