Bid to force decoupling from China is only serving to decouple the US: China Daily editorial

It is not a secret that the US administration is preparing to put pressure on other countries in tariff negotiations, asking them to limit trade with China in exchange for US tariff exemptions.

Something the previous Joe Biden administration tried to do, but failed to achieve, as it is a de facto getting something for nothing trick, since the United States cannot compensate its allies and partners for their losses should they decouple with China.

So it is ridiculous of the Donald Trump administration to bet on a magic wand of tariffs since countries are well aware that under the guise of "reciprocity", it is promoting hegemonic politics and implementing unilateral bullying in the economic and trade fields.

If the Biden administration was trying to hoodwink others to do the US' bidding at their own cost, the Trump administration is going further to try and coerce them to foot the bill for not only countering China on the part of the US, but also bear the cost of "making America great again".

That explains why neither the European Union nor Japan, along with other major trade partners of the US, has actually caved in to US pressure even if they are classified by the US administration as among the 70-plus economies "cooperative" to the US' extortionist tariff policy.

Instead of cracking them one on one as it planned, the Trump administration increasingly finds a united front is emerging among its tariff victims as almost all of them have markedly intensified their respective efforts to promote not only economic and trade cooperation with each other but also with China.

For instance, while the Biden administration regarded the EU's punitive tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles as a major achievement of its China-containment strategy on the economic and trade front over the past four years, the Trump administration has neared undoing it after just about three months in office. Its coercive and bullying practices have spurred the EU to resume long-stalled consultations with China in a bid to end those self-harming tariffs at an early date.

Without any concrete progress being made in its negotiations with other economies, the US economy, finance, market and society are under growing pressure. The US administration has sought to use the tariff policy to engage in political speculation, but it has only dragged the US to the brink of an abyss.

As a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said, appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not win respect in return. If a country sacrifices the interests of others in exchange for so-called immunity, it will end up harming others to no benefit to itself, as once given, the US, like any racketeer, will continue to take. China believes that all parties should stand on the side of fairness and justice, on the side of historical correctness, and should defend international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system. In the face of the impact of unilateralism and protectionism, no country is immune. Once international trade returns to the "law of the jungle" where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims. China is willing to strengthen unity and coordination with all parties, work together to respond to the US' coercion, and jointly resist its unilateral bullying.

At the same time, it should be pointed out that China will not sit back and remain idle should any party reach a deal with the US at the expense of China's interests. If this happens, it will respond with appropriate countermeasures. Having said that, it is the Trump administration that has set the stage and created the opportunity for China to improve its economic ties with other economies.

The farther the US goes to practice unilateralism, protectionism and hegemony, the more efforts China is making with other like-minded partners to support multilateralism, promote free trade and safeguard a fair world trade order. The more the US tries to resort to bullying, coercion and extortion to secure selfish gains to make "America First", the more China endeavors with other partners to use cooperation, collaboration and mutual assistance to expand their common interests for the common development of the world.

The US' China-targeted tariff policy is intended to isolate China from the world system by rebuilding the global industry and supply chains centered on the US. But in effect, it is only serving to isolate the US.