Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/world/china-will-play-along-end-with-us-its-top-diplomat-says-2025-02-15/
At the Munich Security Conference on Friday, February 14th, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that, despite not wanting to be in conflict with the US, China will “play along to the end” if the United States is determined to suppress their country. This comes following the recent additional 10% tariffs Donald Trump placed on Chinese goods and the even more recent 15% tariffs China retaliated with on some US imports. Prior to Trump taking office, President Biden had declared curbs on advanced technology that can be sold to China, which Beijing stated were yet another attempt at containing China’s technological progress.While China has declared they will respond to “bullying” practices, they continue to hope that the US and China can work together on tariffs.
This article is necessary in understanding how the recent tariffs that Donald Trump has been implementing are affecting other countries, such as China. Throughout his presidential campaign Trump had promised import tariffs on Chinese goods, which he made good on following his inauguration, but China has evidently retaliated with their own tariffs. Tariffs in general raise prices for consumers, so it is not clear how these tariffs will impact US and Chinese citizens, but it is likely that prices will rise. This article demonstrates the first reactions from China on the US tariffs, and proves that both China and the US will not easily abandon their national interests.
As the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi promised at the Munich Safety Conference on Friday, China will, despite wanting to work with the United States, retaliate with their own tariffs on US goods. Given their response, it is very possible that if the United States increases the tariffs on Chinese imports, then China will do the same thing. Both countries have committed to imposing tariffs on the other, so it seems highly likely that the situation will continue to escalate indefinitely. As I discussed previously, tariffs, while typically used as leverage on another country, end up costing the consumer money. The cost to import goods rises, causing the amount a citizen pays to also rise; in the end, these tariffs will have the largest impact on both Chinese and American citizens, so in the end no one wins.
This situation between the United States and China can be related to the idea of an international political economy as well as security policies. Security policies aim to advance a state’s fundamental interests, which can be seen as both the United States and China impose tariffs on each other in order to further their national interests. Additionally, this can also be seen as an international political economy issue, seeing as the US and China are the two biggest contributors to the global economy and these tariffs will impact their individual economies.