'We’re Ready To Fight Till The End' - China Gives Serious Rebuke To US For Implementing Tariffs, Mexico And Canada Implements Reciprocal Tariffs

Industry leaders and CEOs were quick to announce that prices are going to spike and be passed onto consumers.

After delaying tariffs last month, today U.S. President Donald Trump mandated that 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian imports, and placed another 10% tariff on Chinese goods, bringing the total to 20%. The news rattled the U.S. stock market as a number of industry leaders and heads of major retailers warned that they are prepared to pass on the extra costs to consumers, followed by a sharp rebuke from China and warning that China will not be intimidated.

Just as last time, Trump criticized America’s largest trading partners for their inability of mitigating the flow of drugs such as fentanyl from flowing into the country.

In a press release, the Trump White House stated:

While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation.

President Trump promised in November to “sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

Though China was not mentioned, it too faced another round of 10% tariffs.

The WinePress noted the added costs these tariffs would have on consumers in February when Trump initially levied the tariffs.

The Tax Policy Center (TPC) reported in a detailed presentation in October that both President Trump and Biden had increased their reliance on tariffs, but noted that Trump’s proposals at the time would increase the prices of imported goods.

In 2023, the US imported $3.1 trillion in goods from other nations. The top five importers to the US were Mexico, China, Canada, Germany, and Japan. Combined, these five countries accounted for roughly half of all goods the US imported that year. The US imported the most goods from Mexico ($475 billion), followed closely by China ($427 billion) and Canada ($419 billion).

The sixth through tenth countries in terms of most imported goods were South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, and Ireland. The US imported at least $80 billion from each of these nations.

If some of these very heavy-handed tariffs are implemented, the TPC says, “Trump’s proposal would increase tariff payments as a share of state GDP, on average, by 1.5 percentage points across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The largest increases would occur in Kentucky (4.1 points), Indiana (3.9 points), Tennessee (3.6 points), Mississippi (3.5 points), and Michigan (2.8 points).”

In short, the TPC concluded:

The US has not collected a significant amount of revenue from tariffs since it enacted an income tax in the early 20th century.

If Trump levied the 60 percent and 10 percent tariffs, it would significantly increase tariff payments relative to state GDP in states across the nation.

Levying a tariff on a good increases its cost for businesses and consumers. Past arguments for accepting these higher costs have included prompting nascent industries in the US, protecting jobs in important sectors, and national security reasons. Trump’s expanded tariffs would create a new policy tradeoff calculation, and the costs of that policy would not be spread equally across the 50 states.

Retailers And Manufacturers Warn Of Higher Prices

A number of companies and retailers were quick to announce that they are going to pass these increased prices onto consumers.

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said in a comment: "Trade is critically important to our business and industry. The consumer electronic supply chain is highly global, technical and complex," Barry said. "We expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely." "We've never seen this kind of breadth of tariffs, and this of course impacts the whole industry. So it's not just a Best Buy question, it is a broad industry question. And I say that because that makes the estimation of the impact all the harder," Barry added.

Best Buy CFO Matt Bilunas also noted: "The giant wild card here, obviously, is how the consumers are going to react to the price increases, in light of a lot of price increases potentially throughout the year and a general consumer confidence that is showing a little signs of weakness at the moment."

Target CEO Brian Cornell said something similar: “Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” he told CNBC in an interview Tuesday after the retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings report.

When Trump was on the campaign trail last year, other companies such as AutoZone, Columbia Sportswear, and Stanley Black & Decker said they would pass on the additional costs to consumers, The WP reported.

Tech companies will also pass on higher costs to Americans. In October, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) published a report on how Trump’s proposed tariffs would affect the cost of consumer goods. Apple Insider noted by how much prices could increase on popular tech items, writing:

The CTA expects that the price increases could result in notebooks and tablets being priced at 46% higher than current levels. Game consoles could increase in price by 40%, while smartphones could be 26% more expensive. Computer accessories could go up 10.9%, with monitors possibly costing another 31.2% more, and desktop computers up 6.2%.

The CTA believes that tariffs on the above products, as well as video games, headphones, connected devices, TVs, and batteries could end up reducing the American consumer’s spending power by $90 billion.

The report adds that the tariffs probably won’t result in that much manufacturing returning to the United States at all. Reshoring tech manufacturing to the U.S. likely isn’t going to happen on a large scale, as Tim Cook has said in the past, but it could drive production to other countries instead of China.

The auto industry is also preparing for sharp increases in vehicles. Bloomberg warned in a headline, “Car Prices Poised for $12,000 Surge on Trump’s New Tariffs.”

Patrick Anderson, chief executive officer of Anderson Economic Group, said in an interview: “That kind of cost increase will lead directly — and I expect almost immediately — to a decline in sales of the models that have the biggest trade impacts.” “Tariffs on the scale that President Trump has threatened would have a sharp negative effect on auto sales,” Anderson added.

Reuters reported something similar. John Bozzella, head of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents all major automakers in the U.S. minus Tesla, explained in a statement: "All automakers will be impacted by these tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Most anticipate the price of some vehicle models will increase by as much as 25% and the negative impact on vehicle price and vehicle availability will be felt almost immediately."

"You just can't relocate automotive production and the supply chain overnight. That's the challenge and the dilemma: auto tariffs in North America could end up increasing costs on consumers before jobs come back to the country," Bozzella added.

Stellantis told Reuters in an email that it will have to put the “cost burden” on its customers. "Because the industry is highly integrated across North America, these tariffs will put Stellantis' flagship Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram brands at a competitive disadvantage versus Korean, Japanese and European importers," the email said.

Bloomberg additionally noted in its report:

Top executives from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV last week spoke in a Zoom meeting with the Commerce Department to warn of the dire economic consequences of the proposed tariffs, according to people familiar with the matter. During the meeting, Ford and Stellantis executives stressed that the White House should focus instead on the millions of imported vehicles with no US parts content, one of the people said. The Detroit News earlier reported the meeting.

Consumers may find some vehicles vanish altogether as automakers stop producing models squeezed especially hard. And even if the tariffs prove to be short-lived, carmakers are already taking steps to contain the fallout.

Car sales are already falling as consumers grapple with high prices and borrowing costs. A decline in January sales dragged down a broader measure of inflation-adjusted consumer spending by the most in nearly four years, according to government data out Friday.

Dan Hearsch, leader of the Americas automotive practice at consultant AlixPartners, said US auto sales could drop by half a million vehicles, even under the less severe price hikes he anticipates. That’s because automakers will stop producing certain models in Canada and Mexico and move as much production as possible to their US factories.

“Some of those vehicles that can’t be produced in the US just probably won’t be made for a while,” Hearsch said in an interview.

Automakers are also pushing their suppliers to build up parts inventory and move them quickly to US warehouses “so that we can at least create a buffer,” Hearsch said.

Canada And Mexico Respond

All three countries were swift to implement reciprocal tariffs on American goods.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on X:

“The moment U.S. tariffs came into effect this morning, so did the Canadian response. Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion of American products. Starting with $30 billion worth of goods immediately, and the remaining $125 billion in 21 days’ time.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would block energy exports to the U.S. "I don't start a tariff war, but we're going to win this tariff war. If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything—including cut off their energy with a smile on my face, and I'm encouraging every other province to do the same." He added, "They rely on our energy. They need to feel the pain."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated there is "no reason, rationale or justification" for Trump to levy these tariffs. She said on X, “We must remain calm in the face of the unilateral imposition of tariffs. It is time for unity and defense of sovereignty,” adding further action will be announced this Sunday, March 9th.

China Issues Harsh Rebuke

China was much more forceful in its response to the United States, vowing that they will not be intimated and will fight this war, whether it is a trade war or something even worse.

They too levied reciprocal tariffs.

The Chinese government released a white paper titled "Controlling Fentanyl-Related Substances - China's Contribution," which, according to state media Global Times, demonstrates China’s long efforts to control the flow of illegal distribution of drugs such as fentanyl and has offered to help the U.S. control its problem, while washing its hands of being the reason why the U.S. has a fentanyl epidemic.

That paper, according to the Global Times, “once again exposed the hypocrisy of the US government's recent use of the so-called fentanyl issue as an excuse to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on products imported from China, rendering the US "fentanyl lie" self-defeating.” The paper goes on to demonstrated this hypocrisy and to defend China from what they see as salacious attacks against them. The GT wrote:

The reason why the fentanyl issue in the US is so serious has never been external; it has nothing to do with China, which strictly prohibits drugs. Illicit fentanyl started to enter the US market as early as the 1980s. Later, media revealed that US pharmaceutical companies concealed the addictive properties of synthetic opioids and that doctors overprescribed painkillers, leading to widespread addiction among patients. Statistics show that with 5 percent of the world's population, the US consumes 80 percent of the world's opioids, but still has not permanently scheduled fentanyl-related substances as a class. The almost abnormal demand has boosted the development of the illegal fentanyl market, fundamentally contributing to the proliferation of fentanyl in the US.

In addition, the lack of social governance in the US has exacerbated the drug problem. US Vice President JD Vance described a similar situation in his autobiography. Many low-income families live in chaotic community environments with a lack of education and supervision. This has led to many children living in adverse conditions of drug abuse and trafficking, forming a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

Ironically, when faced with this issue, some American politicians do not choose to strengthen domestic drug regulations or improve social conditions. Instead, they distort the suffering of the American people into a political excuse, even using it as a justification to wield the tariff stick to coerce and pressure other countries. Even The New York Times has described "fentanyl" as the US government's "diplomatic weapon" against China. This addiction to politicizing and instrumentalizing everything may pose an even greater threat to American society.

In 2023, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) were approximately 74,000. Many US officials pointed fingers at Canada, Mexico, and China. However, the fact is that China did not export any form or dosage of fentanyl-related drugs to North America that year. Yet, this chemical equation is often framed as a geopolitical issue. Whenever the US government finds a new need to exert diplomatic pressure on China, the fentanyl issue - along with the suffering of the American people - is repeatedly amplified and exploited by some American politicians to shift blame onto China.

[…] Shifting the responsibility for domestic governance failures onto others and abusing tariffs as a means of pressure and coercion will not cure America's ills, nor will it help Washington achieve its political objectives. Instead, it will only further expose America's hegemonic logic and strategic anxieties to the world, ultimately leading to self-inflicted consequences.

The publication also pointed out that Chinese officials find it “truly perplexing” that just last year the White House and other U.S. departments openly praised China for adding “46 new psychoactive substances to its controlled substances list, and later added seven substances to its list of regulated precursor chemicals,” to then be condemned and blamed for the spread of fentanyl in the U.S.

China Issues Retaliatory Tariffs Of 15% On Certain US Goods And Energy Starting February 10th, Increases Export Controls On Critical Rare Earth Metals

On top of that, Chinese spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lin Jian issued a very strong rebuke to the U.S. that has gone viral. Chinese officials typically are more reserved and ‘diplomatic’ in their statements, but this latest statement marks a point in which China appears to be growing very weary of the constant attacks from the U.S.

Jian warned that China will not be intimated and will fight war the U.S. hopes to start. He sternly stated:

“I believe you’ve noticed the statements released by competent Chinese departments. The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. China has made clear its opposition more than once. Our countermeasures to defend our rights and interests are fully legitimate and necessary.

“The U.S., not anyone else, is responsible for the fentanyl crisis inside the U.S. In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the U.S. in dealing with the issue. This is obvious to all and people from various sectors in the U.S. have expressed thanks to China on multiple occasions. Instead of recognizing our efforts, the U.S. has lied about our contribution and shifted the blame on China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes. They’ve been punishing us for helping them. This is not going to solve the U.S.’s problem and will deal a heavy blow to our counternarcotics dialogue and cooperation. 

“Let me reiterate that 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. If the U.S. truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China on the basis of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit to address each other’s concerns.

“If the U.S. has other agenda in mind and if war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end. We urge the U.S. to stop being domineering and return to the right track of dialogue and cooperation at an early date.”

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Of course, not as many people were going to see these rebukes because the media is consumed with Trump’s State of the Union address and the gong show that that was.

Regardless of how you want to feel about China, what they said here I believe is accurate and I agree with. Even if - for the sake of argument - China is deliberately trying to flood U.S. shores with fentanyl (that is what Trump is insinuating), then why are we not doubling, tripling, quadrupling our efforts to secure our borders to stop this flow of illicit drugs and smuggling? If we are going to spend at least an asinine $1 trillion annually on our defense budget to service our over 800 foreign military bases and enrich the coffers of the military industrial complex, then, God forbid, should that money actually go to DEFENSE and sure up our borders, ridding our streets of the myriad of drugs that are killing us. For as much propaganda we keep getting fed about Musk’s DOGE and the corruption they are allegedly siphoning, then why is not something similarly done to address this drug epidemic?

Of course, let’s be real, the U.S. does not want to actually fix the problem. Border and customs officials make good money looking the other way and peddling it themselves; and these other departments such as the DHS make great money as drug mules.

I’m not “defending China,” but to blame them, and Canada and Mexico for our problems are ridiculous, and then making us pay more taxes for goods imported by our top trading partners is absurd.

What China just said needs to be taken seriously because they do not often issue threats such as these. They are usually calculated and reserved, but this is a very serious rebuke.

We need to be real, and I don’t care how much of a diehard “patriot” you are: the U.S. is weak and collapsing, NS China, Russia and others, hold the cards and can seriously inflict devasting damage upon us, and not a single bullet need be fired to tear us down. This is the reality.

Naysayers will immediately say that globalization is hurting us (and it is) and that we need to bring jobs back to the U.S. The problem is that this country simply does not have the infrastructure and manufacturing capacity, and one cannot simply flip a switch and turn this country into a production juggernaut again overnight.

The U.S. is a service and consumer-based economy. The country manufactures very little anymore. Only 11% of the nation’s GDP in 2023 was in manufacturing. This country is an importer nation.

I want better paying jobs in this country; I wish this country’s politicians and crooked corporations would not have sold us out for cheap labor elsewhere; but imposing self-defeating measures by drastically increasing protectionist measures will only make the problem worse. Free trade and competition allows for cheaper prices: this is monetary theory and economics 101.

George Gammon from Rebel Capitalist I thought adequately explained why it’s not just the tariffs in of themselves that are the problem, but the fact that the U.S. purposefully ties its hands and feet together making it much more difficult for domestic workers and companies to do business here that is both fair and equitable:

To me, that little gaggle succinctly explains why doing business in the U.S. is a joke, unless it is a foreign company investing here but brings no real benefit to homeborn American taxpayers. The tariffs make zero sense in this context. And I continue to keep hearing this oft-repeated ruse that, ‘well, the U.S. government used to be funded from tariffs’ - then drop income tax and stop nickel and diming me for everything on top of it! But the way the U.S. is structured it allows for megacoporations and foreign investment to make a killing, import cheap and export jobs overseas, while we Americans have deliberately been made into fictionally illiterate feudal serfs on a giant plantation. That’s why small business is dead and corporations rule this country; and because this country is so stink’n over-unionized it incentives laziness and malaise, being overpaid for menial labor: what company wants to invest here? Other countries have nowhere near the amount of regulations the U.S. here.

Flip-Flop: Trump’s New Love For H-1B Visas Completely Contradicts Campaign Statements, Cheap Labor Continues As Usual To Pacify Musk And The Corporate Agenda

But these policies are only going to result the implosion of the U.S. and its population, on top of everything that is transpiring, it is inevitable.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. [16] He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. [13] There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. [14] But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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