China’s official state media has said that the US needs to “stop whining” about being a victim amid the ongoing tariff war.

China Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist party’s (CCP) English-language mouthpiece, published an editorial saying that US President, Donald Trump’s frequent claims of the US being “ripped off” were “hoodwinking the US public.”

It asserted that the US is not getting ripped off by anybody.

“The problem is the US has been living beyond its means for decades. It consumes more than it produces. It has outsourced its manufacturing and borrowed money in order to have a higher standard of living than it’s entitled to based on its productivity. Rather than being ‘cheated’, the US has been taking a free ride on the globalisation train.

“The US should stop whining about itself being a victim in global trade and put an end to its capricious and destructive behaviour.”
China Daily

The CCP has refused to capitulate to Trump’s demands to come to the table and renegotiate their terms of trade.

In a statement delivered by the White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, Trump said on Tuesday “the ball is in China’s court.” “China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them,” the statement said.

White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt.

The statement added that there’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger.

On Wednesday, Beijing announced the replacement of its international trade negotiator.

Li Chenggang will take over the role and that of Vice Commerce Minister, held previously by the veteran trade tsar Wang Shouwen.

No reason was given for the change, as a result of which Li will lead any talks with the US to resolve the trade war, but it came amid a reshuffle of roles across China’s government.

Also on Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry hit back at the US, saying that the US started the trade war and Beijing had been clear that it did not want to fight, but also was not afraid to.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Lin Jian, said, “If the US really wants to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop exerting extreme pressure, stop threatening and blackmailing, and talk to China on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.”

Analysts and officials expect the trade war to have a significant impact on both economies – China was already struggling to rebound since the pandemic with low consumer spending and high youth unemployment.

Spurt Of Economic Growth

Meanwhile, the Chinese government reported a spurt of economic growth ahead of an expected hit from Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Beijing announced better-than-expected economic figures, driven in large part by exporters rushing to move products to the US before the tariffs came into effect.

China’s national bureau of statistics disclosed that the economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter, above analyst predictions.

Sheng Laiyun, a senior official at the statistics bureau, warned, however, that the US tariffs “will put certain pressures on our country’s foreign trade and economy.”

While tariff rises appear to have paused at 145% on Chinese imports to the US and 125% on US imports to China, the two governments are finding other ways to raise the stakes.

China dominates global supply chains for rare metals and has imposed export controls on several rare earth elements since the trade war with the US erupted.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is on a tour of Asian nations, on a trip that, although planned before the tariff war, has served to boost Beijing’s public and private efforts to strengthen trading relationships with other countries.