China 'resolutely opposed' to US tariffs; US Post suspends parcels from China
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2025

China on Wednesday expressed its "resolute opposition" to US tariffs on its exports and called for "dialogue" to resolve trade differences.

"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

China called for "fair and mutually respectful dialogue and consultations", he added.

Beijing on Tuesday fired a return salvo in its escalating trade war with the United States, slapping fresh tariffs on everything from American crude oil to agricultural machinery.

That followed the US imposing new tariffs of 10 percent on all Chinese imports.

"The measures taken by China are necessary to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," Lin said.

"There are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war," he added.

The White House has said its tariffs are aimed at pushing China to do more to stem the deadly fentanyl trade, which US authorities estimate causes tens of thousands of deaths a year.

US President Donald Trump is "not going to allow China to continue to source and distribute deadly fentanyl into our country," the White House said.

Beijing on Wednesday rejected responsibility for the fentanyl epidemic, touting its zero-tolerance drug policy.

"China has one of the toughest policies against drugs in the world," Lin said.

"Fentanyl is the United States' issue, and its root cause lies within the United States itself," he added.

US Postal Service says suspending parcels from China
Washington (AFP) Feb 5, 2025 - The US Postal Service (USPS) has said it is temporarily suspending inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, evoking an angry accusation of "unreasonable suppression" from Beijing on Wednesday.

The order follows US President Donald Trump's imposition of additional 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports starting Tuesday.

Minutes after they took effect, Beijing unveiled new levies on a wide range of US goods in retaliation, fuelling fears of an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies.

The USPS halt, which was unveiled over the weekend, will take place "until further notice".

Asked about the suspension at a regular news briefing on Wednesday, China's foreign ministry said that "as a matter of principle... we urge the United States to stop politicising trade and economic issues and using them as tools, and to stop the unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies".

Spokesman Lin Jian added that China would "continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies".

The order also eliminated a duty-free exemption for low value packages.

The "de minimis" exemption allows goods valued at $800 or below to come into the United States without paying duties or certain taxes.

But it has faced scrutiny because of a surge in shipments claiming the exemption in recent years.

US officials pointed to the growth of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu as a key factor behind this increase -- and Tuesday's halt could delay parcels from both companies from entering the country.

Washington has been looking to tighten the rule, saying the growth in shipments makes it harder to screen goods for security risks.

However, the USPS gave no reason for its pause on Tuesday.

AFP has reached out to Shein and Temu for comment.

Other retailers such as Amazon might also be impacted.

A postal services worker at the Macau General Post Office told AFP on Wednesday that parcels could still be sent to the United States from the special administrative region.

"For now we are not affected, because (the suspension) only affects parcels from mainland China and Hong Kong," he said.

AFP has contacted the Macau postal service for further comment.

China holds out hope last-minute deal can avert US trade war
Beijing (AFP) Feb 5, 2025 - China's new tariffs on US imports like oil, coal and cars are relatively modest in scale, suggesting that Beijing is hoping for a last-minute deal but also giving them the option to inflict more pain if needed, analysts say.

China on Tuesday fired a return salvo in its escalating trade war with the United States, slapping fresh tariffs on everything from American crude oil to agricultural machinery.

The moves hit roughly $20 billion worth of US goods per year -- roughly 12 percent of total American imports into China, according to calculations by Capital Economics.

Over a third of that is energy: according to Beijing customs data, imports of oil, coal and LNG totalled more than $7 billion last year.

Beijing has also slapped fresh export controls on rare metals and chemicals including tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, indium and molybdenum, used in everything from mining to phone screens.

China dominates global supply chains for rare metals.

The countermeasures came as a surprise to some -- analysts at UBS this week told AFP they had expected Beijing to keep its powder dry.

But they are a far cry from the 10 percent tariffs slapped on all Chinese imports by US President Donald Trump this week that will affect some $450 billion worth of goods.

"The measures are fairly modest, at least relative to US moves," Capital Economics's Julian Evans-Pritchard said.

They "have clearly been calibrated to try to send a message to the US (and domestic audiences) without inflicting too much damage," he added.

- Limited room for manoeuvre -

That restraint can in part be explained by China's reliance on many US imports for its industries and its longstanding economic woes at home, Agatha Kratz at the Rhodium Group told AFP.

"Given the current economic downturn, China cannot afford -- and does not want -- to impose excessive trade barriers," she said.

"China's economy is in a fragile state, and this limits its ability to act freely," she explained.

"Beijing cannot afford to take reckless actions, and I don't think it wants to."

Far from inflicting deep pain, analysts say Beijing's goal is to send a message to Washington: that China can and will retaliate to swingeing tariffs.

"These tariffs are structured to signal China's capacity to endure prolonged economic confrontation while forcing the US to deal with internal economic pressures," Mingzhi Jimmy Xu, an assistant professor at Peking University, to AFP.

- 'Serious damage' -

And Beijing can do "serious damage" to the United States should it decide to, Shehzad Qazi from China Beige Book told AFP.

The US remains heavily reliant on China for critical minerals needed to produce electric vehicles, their batteries and other key industrial applications.

Washington has had a flavour of this. In December, Beijing banned exports of metals gallium, antimony and germanium, key components in semiconductors.

That it had chosen not to, analysts say, suggests Beijing is keen to leave the door open to negotiations with Washington that could see the tariffs reversed.

Trump on Monday indicated a call with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be imminent, hinting that a similar volte-face could be in the works.

But he later rolled back that claim, saying he was in "no rush" to speak with the Chinese leader.

Both Mexico and Canada -- hit with 25 percent tariffs over the weekend -- succeeded in securing a 30-day stay in last-minute deals with the US.

Beijing may be hoping for the same kind of agreement -- likely tied to a further commitment to crack down on the trafficking of fentanyl and the ownership of social media app TikTok.

"The Chinese tariffs do not go into effect until five days from now, a long time in Trump world," Wendy Cutler, a former US trade official, said in a note.

But "the question is whether Trump will react in the same way to such threats" from China, Alicia Garcia Herrero at Natixis told AFP.

"If he doubles down, China will have a problem."

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