China’s state media issued a stern warning to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, cautioning that his pledge to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl trafficking could trigger a damaging trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trump, who is set to take office on January 20, announced on Monday that he would impose a 10% tariff on Chinese imports until Beijing curbs the flow of chemical precursors used to produce fentanyl, a deadly drug.
Chinese editorials in China Daily and Global Times rejected Trump’s rationale, stating that using fentanyl as a pretext for further tariffs was “farfetched” and warning that no one benefits from a tariff war. Economists have already begun downgrading China’s growth forecast for 2025 and 2026, anticipating that Trump’s tariff threats could further strain the global economy. With a history of trade tensions, China’s industrial sector, which sells over $400 billion worth of goods annually to the U.S., is bracing for more economic pressure.
While Chinese officials remain confident in long-term economic growth, the threat of escalating tariffs has rattled markets and left businesses on edge.
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