China Clapback on US Tariffs “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
Biden’s administration has dealt a blow to China’s EV efforts overseas as it raises tariffs, plucking a move straight out of his predecessors playbook.
However, China is not deterred as reported by Xinhua in a commentary, “What does not kill you makes you stronger, it seems the famous quote applies to China’s technology companies.”
In response to the tariffs, Chinese state media have shot back, accusing the United States of subverting its own free trade principles and taking action that threatens climate goals and will push up costs for American consumers.
“China can take the moral high ground,” said Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, a think tank. “It doesn’t play around with those who break international standards and norms.”
In the starkest language of its response, the Chinese commerce ministry said the White House had broken the spirit of an agreement to steady bilateral relations reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden late last year in San Francisco.
Biden has said he wants to win this era of competition with China but not to launch a trade war, and U.S. officials have looked to engage Beijing on limited areas of cooperation, including climate change.
Phone maker Huawei was similarly hit with sanctions in 2019 over privacy issues and as a result, the Android operating system was removed from the phone.
The sanction has resulted in Huawei having to develop its own apps and inviting app developers to make apps for its own app store.
“The thing about this Biden initiative is that it is election driven,” said Wang. “It is different to what Trump did, as he had already been president for one year and so was pursuing a trade war, rather than election.”
