Olusegun Ariyo
China on Monday said it was on the right side of history in its gruelling trade war with the United States.
Recall that the US President Donald Trump, since returning to the presidency in January, has imposed 10 per cent tariffs on most US trading partners and a separate 145 per cent levy on many products from China.
In retaliation, China slapped 125 per cent tariffs of its own on US goods.
A Chinese senior economic planner, Zhao Chenxin, while speaking in Beijing at a news conference at which officials vowed greater steps to shield China’s flagging economy from the impact of the standoff, said Beijing was on the right side of history.
“We firmly believe that if you are against the world and the truth, you will only isolate yourselves. Only by travelling with the world and with morality can we win the future,” Zhao said.
He added that the United States played cards out of thin air, bullied and went back on their word, condemning Washington’s unilateralism and bullying.
On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended Trump’s tumultuous tariff policy, which has sent shivers through markets, as a way of creating strategic uncertainty that gives Washington the upper hand.
Many countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.
Beijing, however, has vowed to fight a trade war ro the end and denied US claims it is in talks with Washington.
However, it has acknowledged that global economic vicissitudes have strained its economy, long dependent on exports.
“External pressures are increasing. The US imposition of successive high-tariff measures has created production and operation challenges for some export-oriented companies and impacted some workers’ jobs,” Yu Jiadong of China’s labour ministry said.
