Neither the United States nor China would emerge victorious in a trade war, the Chinese Embassy in Washington stated on Monday, responding to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese imports starting January 20.
“About the issue of US tariffs on China, China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” said Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Liu Pengyu in a statement.
“No one will win a trade war or a tariff war,” Liu added.
Trump justified the proposed tariffs as a measure to pressure China to stop the flow of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl, into the United States.
In response, Liu highlighted steps China had taken to address drug trafficking following an agreement reached last year between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The Chinese side has notified the US side of the progress made in US-related law enforcement operations against narcotics,” Liu stated.
He further emphasized, “All these prove that the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality.”
Since the Xi-Biden agreement to resume joint efforts, there has been visible progress in curbing the illicit traffic of chemicals used to produce fentanyl.
Fentanyl abuse, a major cause of death in the U.S., has led Washington to push for tougher measures from China, including stricter controls on precursor chemicals and tackling illicit financial channels.
In June, China’s top prosecutor urged law enforcement officials to intensify efforts against drug trafficking.
In August, following a meeting of the joint counternarcotics working group, China announced tighter controls on three chemicals critical for fentanyl production.
This rare collaboration reflects incremental progress in addressing a shared crisis despite ongoing trade tensions.