‘You want war, you’ll have it’: China’s stern message to Trump on tariffs

Washington: China has declared its readiness to “fight till the end” if the United States insists on escalating trade tensions, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs against Beijing.

In a strongly worded statement on X, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of using the fentanyl crisis as a “flimsy excuse” to justify tariff hikes on Chinese imports.

“If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we are ready to fight till the end,” the Chinese Embassy in Washington posted.

Trump has accused China of failing to prevent the export of precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production, a drug responsible for a surge in opioid-related deaths in the US. However, Beijing rejected the allegations, saying the US was shifting blame.

“Instead of recognising our efforts, the US has sought to smear and shift blame to China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes. They have been punishing us for helping them,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

China also issued a firm warning to the Trump administration, insisting that coercion and threats would not work. “Intimidation does not scare us.

Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating,” the ministry added.

The escalating tensions come after Trump’s address to Congress, where he confirmed that new tariffs on countries including China and India would take effect on April 2. Washington has already doubled tariffs on Chinese imports from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, prompting Beijing to announce retaliatory measures.

China’s Ministry of Commerce unveiled counter-tariffs of 10 per cent-15 per cent on American agricultural products such as wheat, corn, and cotton, while also imposing export and investment restrictions on 25 US companies, citing security concerns.