China's plan to win Trump's trade war
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
The world’s two largest powers are closer than ever to a full economic break. Why neither the United States nor China want to blink, and what it will take for China to survive the trade war.
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A week after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs roiled global markets, his administration put China in its crosshairs, with a 145 percent levy on Chinese imports.
China countered by raising tariffs on all U.S. goods to at least 125 percent and by publicly casting the United States as an irresponsible global power.
Today on “Post Reports,” The Post’s China bureau chief, Lily Kuo, joins guest host Chris Velazco to explain how the trade relationship between the two countries got so hostile, how China plans to weather the storm, and how the rest of the world might feel the consequences of this game of chicken.
And China correspondent Christian Shepherd brings us to an e-commerce expo in Shenzhen, China, where sellers are pledging to find a way through the tariffs.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy and Elana Gordon. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Reena Flores. Thanks to Anna Fifield.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So you may have heard there's a trade war going on. |
| 0:06.1 | Yeah, it's been a lot every day. It's different and it's definitely hard to keep up. |
| 0:10.5 | I mean, so right now, tariffs on Chinese goods from the U.S. and tariffs on U.S. goods from China are at historical highs, and they basically amount to a trade embargo on each other. |
| 0:21.4 | Lily Kuo is the post's China Bureau Chief. |
| 0:24.5 | And I've been covering the trade war for the last two weeks, it feels like it's been a year. |
| 0:32.5 | As it stands right now, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are at least 145 percent. Chinese tariffs on |
| 0:40.0 | U.S. goods are at least 125 percent. And this is all evolved well beyond measured trade policy. |
| 0:47.5 | It's actually gotten kind of mean. Here's Vice President J.D. Vance earlier this month. |
| 0:54.3 | We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture. |
| 1:00.0 | That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. |
| 1:02.9 | It's not a recipe for low prices. |
| 1:04.6 | And it's not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America. |
| 1:08.0 | Then, China's top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, Xia Bao Long, bit back. |
| 1:14.5 | He said U.S. tariffs would backfire and that, quote, |
| 1:17.9 | those peasants in the U.S. would wail in front of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. |
| 1:25.5 | Let the American those Shangba-lau men |
| 1:27.7 | in the Chinese |
| 1:30.2 | people in front of |
| 1:32.0 | so Beijing, you know, |
| 1:34.7 | at every step of escalation from Trump, |
| 1:36.7 | they've responded with pretty much |
| 1:38.7 | an equal response, |
... |
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