China's state media warned US President-elect Donald Trump that his pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows could drag the world's top two economies into a mutually destructive tariff war.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, said on Monday he would impose "an additional 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs" on imports from China until Beijing clamped down on trafficking of the chemical precursors used to make the deadly drug.
The two superpowers are setting out their positions ahead of the former president's return to the White House. Trump's first term resulted in a trade war that uprooted global supply chains and hurt every economy as inflation and borrowing costs shot up.
Editorials in China Daily and the Global Times late on Tuesday warned the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to not make China a "scapegoat" for the US' fentanyl crisis or "take China's goodwill for granted regarding anti-drug cooperation".
"The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is farfetched," China Daily said.
"There are no winners in tariff wars. If the US continues to politicise economic and trade issues by weaponising tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed."
Economists have begun downgrading their growth targets for China's $19 trillion economy for 2025 and 2026 in anticipation of further tariffs promised by Trump during the election campaign, and are warning Americans to brace for an increase in the cost of living.
"For now, the only thing we know for sure is that the risks in this area are high," said Louis Kuijs, chief Asia economist at S&P Global Ratings, which on Sunday lowered its China growth forecast for 2025 and 2026 to 4.1% and 3.8%, respectively.
"What we assumed in our baseline is an across-the-board (tariff) increase from around 14% now to 25%. Thus, what we assumed is a bit more than the 10% on all imports from China."
Trump is threatening Beijing with far higher tariffs than the 7.5%-25% levied on Chinese goods during his first term.
"China already has a template for dealing with the previous US tariff policy," the Global Times quoted Gao Lingyun, an analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, as saying.
"Using counternarcotics issues to increase tariffs on Chinese goods is untenable and unpersuasive," Gao added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that China's economy would continue to grow and develop in the long term during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday after Trump's comments, state news agency Xinhua said.
Lee reportedly told Xi "no one should underestimate the Chinese people's determination for their nation to succeed and stand tall in the world," a remark that a separate Global Times piece said was "also meant for some people in (the) international community."
Profits at Chinese firms fell 10% year-on-year in October, data showed on Wednesday, showing how companies are struggling to remain profitable in an economy that is far more vulnerable to trade shocks this time around.
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