In April 2025, President Trump delivered his “Declaration of Economic Independence,” brandishing a sign that sent shockwaves through global markets. Fears of rising prices and plummeting revenues quickly triggered panic across stock exchanges worldwide.
The shockwaves from the tariff announcement forced trade and commerce ministries around the world to request urgent talks with President Trump. In response, Trump agreed to delay full implementation for 90 days, leaving in place only a 10% baseline tariff on all countries during the interim.
Only one country was left off the tariff grace list — China. Rather than seeking dialogue or negotiation, Beijing responded with a combative stance from the start. After Trump’s initial 34% tariff hike, China retaliated with its own 34% tariff on U.S. goods. Washington then escalated further, slapping on an additional 50%, bringing the total to 104%. China struck back again, raising tariffs on American products from 34% to 84%.
The escalating tariffs and political posturing turned the trade war into a high-stakes poker match between the U.S. and China. Each side kept raising the stakes, hoping to pressure the other into folding. In the end, tariffs between the two giants surged to 145% on Chinese goods and 125% on American exports.
But what’s truly curious is this — what gave China the confidence to go nearly all in? With a dramatic flourish, Xi Jinping pushed his chips to the center of the table. But what exactly is China holding in its hand? What cards lie beneath its bravado?
In truth, China had already adopted an aggressive stance well before Trump’s announcement. In early March, China’s embassy in Washington posted on its official X account that China would “fight to the end” in any form of war — economic or otherwise.
During this latest tariff clash, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning escalated the rhetoric by quoting Mao Zedong’s Korean War-era speech: “However long they want to fight, we’ll fight — until complete victory.”
This, precisely, is China’s source of confidence — its people.
Trade War Is a People’s War
Building healthy, mutually beneficial trade relations has never been China’s true goal. Since Xi Jinping took power, his top priority has been singular: elevate China to global superpower status and achieve the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” cementing his place in history.
To this end, China has expanded production and implemented unfair trade practices like massive subsidies — all to flood global markets with underpriced goods.
For example, China has poured over $130 billion into domestic shipbuilders over the past decade — an industry whose global market is worth only $150 billion.
Likewise, Chinese solar panel makers enjoy subsidized land leases and low-interest loans, allowing them to produce at 16–18.9 cents per watt — compared to 24–30 cents in Europe and 28 cents in the U.S.
China’s goal is clear: subsidize its companies into global dominance. Once foreign competitors fall, China turns the world into its showroom.
This is what a “People’s War” looks like. Chinese firms can ignore profits because the regime feeds them with the people’s sweat and sacrifice. Citizens have no choice in the matter.
On the Korean War front, China once used human wave tactics — waves of civilians charging into death. Not due to poor leadership, they were told, but to resist Western imperialism.
And that’s why China’s leaders aren’t afraid of tariff wars. With the right propaganda, any crisis can be blamed on the West — and used to fuel national unity.
As long as Xi stands firm, his image as a strongman endures. In the narrative China feeds its people, he cannot lose.
Exploiting the Opening: China’s Expansion Across Europe and the Americas
While confronting and provoking the United States, China has been quietly and aggressively expanding its global footprint. In fact, Beijing welcomes tariff disputes between other countries and Washington — because each quarrel gives China a perfect opening to court those nations as potential allies under the guise of economic partnership.
At the Munich Security Conference this February, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a stern warning to the United States, stating that if Washington insisted on suppressing China and obstructing its development, Beijing would resolutely strike back against what it called “unilateral bullying.”
In mid-February, Wang Yi visited the United Kingdom, meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for the 10th UK–China Strategic Dialogue. The discussions addressed a range of global issues, including security and the Middle East.
At the end of March, he met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Barrot emphasized the importance of a strong France–China partnership amid global geopolitical instability.
Most recently, Xi Jinping publicly called on the EU to jointly resist the U.S. tariff measures — further positioning China as a counterbalance to American influence.
This sequence of engagements reveals Beijing’s strategy: leverage Western division to draw closer to Europe while sidelining the U.S., all while securing broader markets for its overcapacity exports.
China has also set its sights across the Pacific. Despite rising tensions with Canada — over trade, the execution of drug offenders, and election interference allegations — Beijing continues to infiltrate Canadian society.
According to Canada’s Special Task Force on Intelligence and Election Security, China has launched cyberattacks targeting upcoming elections and deployed fake accounts to discredit opposition candidates.
Once China deepens its foothold in Canada and courts Europe, it can further isolate the U.S. and reshape global trade and influence in its image.
Not everyone can resist the lure of cheap Chinese goods. But those living through this trade war must stay alert.
The ideals of free trade are worth preserving — but not at the cost of ignoring the aggressive campaign already sweeping toward us.
China is mobilizing its entire state apparatus to dismantle our industries and seize our markets. This is why America must respond with strength and resolve. It must also deepen alliances that leave China on the outside looking in.
Only through unyielding resistance and strategic cooperation can the world force China to compromise — and reveal the truth behind its bluster: a regime propped up by exhausted, impoverished people teetering on the edge of collapse.
