Trump, who will assume office on January 20th, announced on Monday his intention to levy a 10% tariff on Chinese goods as a means of pressuring Beijing to take more robust measures to combat the trafficking of Chinese-made chemicals utilized in the production of highly addictive narcotics.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump had threatened to impose tariffs exceeding 60% on Chinese goods.
"China's position against unilateral tariff increases is consistent," He Yadong, a spokesperson for the commerce ministry, told a regular news briefing on Thursday. "Imposing arbitrary tariffs on trading partners will not solve America's own problems."
The speaker emphasized the importance of the United States adhering to World Trade Organization regulations and collaborating with China to foster stable economic and trade relations.
Analysts anticipate that President Trump's remarks will initiate a challenging four-year trade conflict, potentially surpassing the severity of his first term, which imposed tariffs ranging from 7.5% to 25% and disrupted global supply chains.
In an October podcast interview, Howard Lutnick, President Trump's nominee to lead the Commerce Department and oversee the Office of the United States Trade Representative, asserted that "China is attacking America" through the distribution of fentanyl and proposed that President Trump consider imposing tariffs on China as high as 200%.
Recent editorials published in Chinese state media outlets have cautioned that the imposition of new tariffs could potentially lead to a mutually detrimental tariff war between the world's two largest economies.
There was already an uncanny feeling of déjà vu on Thursday when China's state media commended certain U.S. companies for their "robust collaboration." This commentary is reminiscent of how the Chinese press covered tensions with the U.S. during the previous trade war.
During that time, U.S. corporate leaders and foreign investors would meticulously examine Chinese state media for indications of which U.S. companies might be favored or penalized as tensions escalated.
On Wednesday evening, the state-owned Global Times specifically highlighted Apple, Tesla, Starbucks, and HP.
"U.S. politicians need to pay attention to and respect the evident willingness of American businesses for economic and trade cooperation by tailoring suitable policy environments for enterprises," it said.
The China Daily also noted that Morgan Stanley received regulatory approval in March to expand its China operations, citing this as evidence of foreign financial firms' enthusiasm for investing in China.
"Neither side was good about communicating policy directly, so business was busy looking at the tea leaves and trying to separate signal and noise in traditional and social media," a Beijing-based American executive said of the first trade war.
The executive was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
The U.S.-China trade war during Trump's first term saw China threaten to ban U.S. companies from importing, exporting and investing in China with the creation of the "Unreliable Entity List".
As of now, the Unreliable Entity List has only included American companies involved in arms sales to Taiwan, despite initial reports indicating that it would target major U.S. corporations such as Apple, Cisco Systems, and Qualcomm.
Bo Zhengyuan, a Shanghai-based partner at Plenum, a consulting firm, expressed his belief that Beijing will not hastily employ instruments like the Unreliable Entity List in the immediate aftermath of any official tariff announcement by the incoming Trump administration, considering the current fragility of the Chinese economy.
However, Beijing may choose to retaliate at a later time if it perceives that U.S. policymakers are causing harm to China's commercial interests.
"There was collateral damage last time, and there will be collateral damage this time," he added. - Reuters