The United States is paying the price for launching a trade war, as China is forced to announce the levy of new additional tariffs on US goods.
China has announced that it will slap additional tariffs on US imports worth about $75 billion, covering 5,078 US products with additional tariffs of 10 or 5 percent, in two batches starting on Sept 1 and Dec 15, respectively.
The new tariffs will cover vehicles, auto parts and farm produce such as soybean and corn. US farmers and manufacturers will soon feel the brunt.
Through more than a year of trade friction between the two countries, China never faltered. When the US side tried to intensify trade bullying and exert maximum pressure on China, it only strengthened China's resolve, making China stand more firmly against the US bullying, and defend its legitimate rights and interests.
China has always believed that cooperation is the only means of resolving trade issues with the US side, but such cooperation comes with preconditions. China strongly opposes US trade hegemony and will never compromise on its fundamental principles. The further some people in the United States go on their dangerous road of hegemony and bullying, the stronger the pushback they will encounter.
In terms of counter measure, China means business.
There is no winner in a trade war. Companies from both sides have paid prices. Farmers in some parts of the United States have suffered "devastating impacts" from the trade war with China, according to US media reports.
Tariff escalation has put a significant strain on the US economy, raising costs, undermining investment and sending stocks plunging. The US economy will not be stronger without China.
Any discussion of severing ties between US and Chinese companies is ridiculous at best. Companies from both countries have been ambassadors for positive changes to the two economies. Despite the current impasse, constructive engagement is still the right way forward.
Some people in the United States had imagined their trade war would be "easy to win." They have been proved wrong. The only way to end the trade war is for the United states to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, meet China halfway, and find a solution through consultations on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
