Chinese state media warns of mutually destructive tariff war

China's state media warned US President-elect Donald Trump his pledge to slap additional tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows could drag the world's top two economies into a mutually destructive tariff war.

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Trump, who takes office on Jan 20, said on Nov 25 he would impose "an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs", on imports from China until Beijing clamped down on trafficking of the chemical precursors used to make the deadly drug.

The two superpowers are setting out their positions ahead of the former president's return to the White House. Trump's first term resulted in a trade war that uprooted global supply chains and hurt every economy as inflation and borrowing costs shot up.

Editorials in Communist Party of China mouthpieces China Daily and the Global Times late on Nov 26 warned the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to not make China a "scapegoat" for the US' fentanyl crisis or "take China's goodwill for granted". "The excuse the President-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is far-fetched," China Daily said.

"There are no winners in tariff wars. If the US continues to politicise economic and trade issues by weaponising tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed."

Economists have begun down-grading their growth targets for China's US$19 trillion (S$25.5 trillion) economy for 2025 and 2026 in anticipation of further tariffs promised by Trump during the election campaign, and are warning Americans to brace themselves for an increase in the cost of living.