BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Wednesday called its trade surplus with the United States an inevitability and warned it had the “determination and means” to continue the fight if Trump kept hitting Chinese goods with tariffs to try and bring it down.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivered on his threat to impose duties totalling 104% on Chinese products, signing an executive order on Tuesday that took effect after Beijing ignored his demand that it withdraw retaliatory levies it had announced after Trump unveiled an initial round of tariffs.
Trump has imposed “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of economies he accuses of “ripping off” the U.S. by selling goods into the world’s largest consumer economy while maintaining trade barriers that inhibit U.S. firms’ market access.
But he has singled out China for the most punishing tariffs, setting the stage for a standoff between the world’s top two economies.
“China does not deliberately pursue a trade surplus,” said a white paper on U.S.-China commercial ties released shortly after the higher tariffs took effect by the State Council Information Office, which engages with media on behalf of the government.
“The trade imbalance in goods between China and the U.S. is both an inevitable result of structural issues in the U.S. economy and a consequence of the comparative advantages and international division of labour between the two countries,” the report added.
China’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $295.4 billion last year from $279.1 billion in 2023, according to U.S. Census data. The goods trade gap peaked in 2018 at $418 billion, the same year Trump, in his first term as president, imposed tariffs on Chinese outbound shipments.
“There are no winners in a trade war,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement accompanying the report launch. “China does not want one, but the government will never allow the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people to be harmed or taken away.”
“The United States is using tariffs as a tool to exert maximum pressure for selfish gains – this is classic unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” the statement added.
(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Clarence Fernandez and Kate Mayberry)
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