US will be hit by ‘high tariffs’ from other countries, China’s Global Times warns

BEIJING: US tariffs will inflict significant harm on the US economy as other countries hit back with “high tariffs” on American goods, Chinese state media warned, leaving the door open for more measures by Beijing as another wave of levies looms.

Barely two months after returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has triggered trade conflicts with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union (EU). Trump is also threatening reciprocal tariffs on every country that taxes US imports, with those levies potentially kicking in on April 2.

China swiftly responded with countermeasures in February and March when two rounds of Trump tariffs took effect. And Beijing is widely expected to quickly react to the April tariffs should they come to pass.

“In response to US tariffs, its trading partners will not sit idly by,” the nationalist Chinese tabloid Global Times wrote in an editorial on Tuesday. “Retaliating with high tariffs on US exports could become an option for many countries.”

Beijing has slapped retaliatory levies on US agriculture and food exports, placed export and investment curbs on 25 US firms, suspended soybean import licences of three US firms and halted imports of US logs.

China also launched probes into some US fibre optic products. To help trading companies in China resist “external shocks”, its commerce ministry will take a series of measures to help them expand sales in the country, according to Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. “Many countries are actively seeking to diversify their economic partnerships and reduce their reliance on the US by forging new trade alliances,” Global Times said.