China opens door to dialogue as Trump plans steep tariffs
China is ready for dialogue with the United States. President-elect Donald Trump announced the introduction of high tariffs on Chinese products. According to experts, tariffs on Chinese imports might reduce the growth of the world's second-largest economy by 1 percentage point.
Chinese authorities express their willingness to engage in active dialogue with the United States on the principles of mutual respect, aiming to develop bilateral economic and trade relations, Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, said on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
Wang, who also serves as China's International Trade Representative, emphasised the readiness to manage external shocks in response to questions about potential tariffs that the future U.S. president, Donald Trump, may impose.
Wang expressed confidence that China and the United States will be able to maintain stable, healthy, and sustainable economic and trade relations. He added that Beijing is ready to expand areas of cooperation and manage differences with the United States.
Reuters interviewed economists who predict that the United States might impose tariffs on Chinese imports reaching nearly 40% early next year, which could lower China's economic growth by 1 percentage point.
Fentanyl and Beijing
However, there is something that the Chinese can do as a goodwill gesture. According to the United States, the Chinese government is accused of taking conscious actions to spark an epidemic of the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, within the United States. These actions are said to involve subsidising the production of substances needed to manufacture the drug.
Investigators working for the commission discovered that Chinese producers of so-called fentanyl precursors can benefit from tax breaks if they decide to sell their products outside of China. This information was obtained through access to a government portal in Beijing used for filing such tax relief requests.
However, as the "Wall Street Journal" writes, three days after Donald Trump won the presidential election, China announced that, in cooperation with American intelligence, it had arrested a suspect involved in the long-term production of chemicals used to produce fentanyl. It was seen as a symbolic gesture of goodwill by Beijing, taken as a result of intense pressure from Washington to tighten actions.
However, as noted by the "WSJ," when Trump takes office, he promises to adopt an aggressive stance against China regarding their role in the fentanyl crisis, abandoning attempts at diplomacy and compromises made by the Biden administration. During his campaign, Trump announced that he would impose harsh tariffs on China if they do not help stop the influx of illegal drugs to the United States, reports the American journal.
