Why China won’t buckle to Trump’s trade war demands

China’s tariffs on American farm products came into force this week. As a response to Washington’s latest 10% hike on Chinese imports, Beijing’s official message has been clear: it is ready to fight any type of war against the US.

As a businessman-turned-politician, US President Donald Trump is using a combination of tariffs, sanctions and rhetoric to coerce countries into complying with his demands.

His “Art of the Deal” approach has worked in some cases, as seen in accommodations made by countries like Canada and Mexico that have sought to negotiate his tariff threats.

But China, while still leaving room for negotiation, is taking a different approach – rather than begging for Trump’s trade war mercy, Beijing wants to interact with Washington on an equal footing.

Indeed, the Trump administration has chosen the wrong target if it thinks its tariff threats will work the same on China.

Divergences between the world’s two largest economies are inevitable. But Washington has made a slew of unreasonable demands on Beijing, leveraging its presumed power advantage and vast gap in comprehensive strength. But China is no longer what it was.

Data from the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank and the World Bank shows that China’s nominal GDP is the second-largest worldwide after the US, but measured at purchasing power parity, China’s GDP is now larger.

The shift in global power dynamics, where China is rising and the US is declining, is by now a widely accepted fact. China has already made it clear that the US can no longer speak from “a position of strength.”

As a result of its recent rapid growth, China has seized economic advantages over the US in many fields. Take, for instance, trade. The