No winners in tariff war initiated by US: China Daily editorial

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, announcing a 25 percent tariff on all US steel and aluminum imports from March 12. The order also canceled the duty-free quota and exemption policy for the imports from some trading partners, effectively canceling the deals that had been reached with the European Union and other economies.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a statement in response, pledging that the EU will take "firm and proportionate" countermeasures.

US tariffs on steel and aluminum, two major EU exports to the US, "will not go unanswered", Von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that "the EU will act to safeguard its economic interests".

The countermeasures from the 27-nation bloc are expected to target Republican states and traditionally strong US exports, including bourbon, jeans and motorcycles.

Reminding the Trump administration of the harms of a tariff war, Von der Leyen said, "Tariffs are taxes — bad for business, worse for consumers".

That is something the European Commission chief should also reflect on given the steep tariffs the bloc has imposed on Chinese-made electric vehicles since October last year, following Washington's call to form a "united front" against China on the economy, trade and technology.

Having stating that the US' "unjustified tariffs" on the EU will trigger "firm and proportionate countermeasures", the European Commission president, given the active role she has played in supporting the aforementioned China-targeted tariffs, should consider whether the restrained countermeasures China has taken in answering the EU's unjustified tariffs on Chinese-made EVs are justified, though the EU side claims they are baseless or irrational.

China will not be "laughing on the side" at the US tariffs Trump is imposing on the EU, as the EU's top foreign affairs and security official, Kaja Kallas, said. China will by no means benefit from a tariff war between the two, which will leave no party unscathed.

China's EU policy and US policy are both consistent, so is its openness to work with both of them to promote the healthy development of relations. Playing one party against another has never been and will never be part of China's diplomacy, neither is playing a zero-sum game in its repertoire for handling international relations.

China's top leader has stressed on many occasions the need to avoid politicizing economic issues and taking protectionist moves to prevent the fracturing of the global economy, which he warned would create "severe challenges" for all. He has called for building a stable world economy characterized by openness, urging that efforts be made to keep the World Trade Organization rules relevant, both by addressing long-pending issues and exploring the formulation of new, future-oriented rules, to enhance the authority, efficacy and relevance of the multilateral trading system.

Since the "America first" Trump won the 2024 US presidential election in November, the EU has long predicted that the US was becoming an opponent in a tariff war. An indication of that is that Von der Leyen took advantage of her special address in Davos on Jan 21, shortly after Trump's inauguration, to take aim at China so as to signal to the new US president that if he treated the EU the way of his first term, the bloc would have no choice but turn to China, shattering the anti-China clique the US had painstakingly built over the past four years.

But Brussels should be reminded about what China looks for in the EU is a win-win partnership with mutual respect and based on shared belief in fair multilateral global governance and inclusive economic globalization, rather than being treated as a spare tire or a counterweight in its policy portfolio.

China has been and will continue to be committed to promoting healthy relations with the EU and the US — and all other trade partners. It's China's hope that the EU and the US will work with it to strengthen their trade and economic ties with it, maintaining the stability of the world industry and supply chains for the common good of the world.