By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-02-01 13:11:45 | Updated at 2025-02-01 15:52:09
2 hours ago
China is “not afraid” of Donald Trump’s fresh tariffs on Chinese goods and is prepared to firmly retaliate, analysts said, adding that there might still be room for the two geopolitical rivals to manoeuvre.
The assessment followed the White House’s announcement on Friday that the United States would impose a 10 per cent tariff on imports from China, effective from Saturday.
The import tax was announced alongside a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the tariffs were a necessary response to “the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans”.
According to the White House, the tariffs will stay in place until significant progress is made in halting the flow of illegal drugs and migrants into the United States.
Dylan Loh, assistant professor of foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, noted that the 10 per cent tariff imposed on Chinese goods was “significantly scaled down” from Trump’s earlier threats.
