“More than 50% in tariffs. China is among the countries with the highest tariffs imposed by the US,” stated Wang Wentao at a press conference in Beijing.
The minister explained that the tariff comprises a base rate of 10%, increased by an additional 20% due to the production of chemical precursors used in manufacturing the synthetic drug fentanyl and a further 23.6% from previously existing tariffs.
Beijing and Washington initiated a 90-day trade truce in May, during which they agreed to a reduction of 115 percentage points in cross tariffs valid since April, effectively representing a bilateral trade blockade between the world’s two largest economies.
In June, the parties reached a principle agreement to lift or ease some restrictions—such as Chinese controls on rare earth exports—and have until August 12 to conclude a long-term trade pact, though high-ranking US officials have acknowledged that this deadline is flexible.
Wang acknowledged that the trade relations between the two countries have experienced ups and downs but emphasized that China and the US are “important economic partners” and that “cooperation is the only right path.”
“Disagreements and frictions are inevitable, but dialogue and consultation are the best ways to resolve issues,” he asserted.
The minister also accused the US of increasingly resorting to “unilateralism and protectionism” and “continuously provoking frictions” since 2018, the year Donald Trump, then in his first term as US leader, launched the trade war with China.
“A series of measures have had a significant negative impact and interfered with the normal economic cooperation between the two countries,” he noted, referring not only to tariffs but also to sanctions against Chinese companies and restrictions on the export of technologies and strategic materials.
Wang highlighted that trade exchanges between the two countries increased by 18% in goods and 34.7% in services between 2017, Trump’s first year in office, and 2024. For the official, these figures demonstrate the “solid foundation” of bilateral economic relations and the infeasibility of an “artificial decoupling.”
He also noted the reduction in China’s dependence on exports to the US, which decreased from 17.4% of the total in 2020 to 14.7% in 2024.
Despite a 9.9% drop in Chinese sales to the US in the first half of the year, due to the escalation of tariffs, China’s total exports increased by 7.2% during the same period—an indication, according to Wang, of the resilience of the Chinese economy.
