President Trump’s effort to make China bend to his will by imposing heavy tariffs on Chinese-made imports has experts worried that the trade war could turn into a new Cold War.
Beijing has already made it clear there will be no more concessions from its side, reversing its earlier policy, Axios reports.
“China does not want a trade war but is not afraid of it,” a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said this week. “We will not succumb to any external pressure and have the determination and ability to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.”
And in a commentary on its social media account, says Axios, China’s state-owned People’s Daily warned the U.S. to “not even think about” further concessions on trade.
Da Wei, a professor at the University of International Relations in Beijing, put it even more bluntly in an interview on the PBS broadcast “Frontline.”
Wei predicts “another type of Cold War,” driven by a trade war that’s becoming a “comprehensive confrontation.”
“If that happens,” he said, “it will last for quite a long time. That’s a tragedy for everyone.”
Trump imposed 25% tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods, insisting that it would benefit the U.S. He said Tuesday he may order even more tariffs to cover virtually all Chinese imports.
American importers, and ultimately American consumers, are paying the tariffs, not China, although the tariffs will certainly have a negative impact on the Chinese economy.