Beijing Denounces “Coercive Tariffs”
Trump’s Use of Tariffs Pressures Global South to Isolate China
The Donald Trump administration has reportedly been pressuring South Korea to join its policy of blocking Chinese growth in the international shipbuilding industry by offering South Korea relief from higher tariffs under the “reciprocal tariff” regime of the US.
South Korea’s trade policy director, Chang Sung-gil, said on Friday that “the US feels a sense of crisis that China’s market share in the shipbuilding sector is growing and is tapping Korea as a strategic partner” against it.
Chang also confirmed that cooperation against China’s shipbuilding is one of the pre-conditions set by the US for finalizing the trade deal with South Korea to avoid high reciprocal tariffs.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration extended the deadline for the implementation of its reciprocal tariff regime. It was to take effect 9 July, as per the announcement made in April. However, Trump has given countries until August 1 to finalize their trade deals to avoid high tariffs.
If the talks fail, South Korea will face a 25% tariff on its exports to the US, according to a Monday letter from Trump to the country’s newly elected leadership.
South Korea is not the only country that the US is coercing to join its China economic containment plan. Various nations, both in Asia and elsewhere, have been pressured to cut back their trade ties with China.
Trump has reportedly demanded, both directly and indirectly, that countries should reduce the volume of their trade with China and block certain essential exports to it. This is a continuation of the policy adopted by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, who had asked South Korea to block the supply of high end logic and memory chips to China as a way to slow down its progress in high end technology.
The Trump administration has set similar demands vis-a-vis China for a large number of Asian countries as one of the preconditions for getting relief from higher tariffs.
Violation of international norms
China has repeatedly objected to the US government’s approach of using its so-called reciprocal tariffs to coerce countries to modify their trade policies with a third country.
Responding to the news of the Trump administration using coercion against South Korea to act against China, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday that no bilateral trade “agreement or negotiation should come at the expense of third parties’ interests.”
The Trump administration has also threatened members of the BRICS with higher tariffs if they choose to continue aligning with it, calling it an anti-American grouping. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his threat which provoked a strong response from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who just hosted the BRICS summit.
Trump also announced a 50% tariff on Brazil on Wednesday accusing it of “persecuting” former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing trial for spreading misinformation to foreign diplomats about Brazil’s electronic voting system and attempting a coup against Lula.
Answering a question about Trump’s tariff threat against Brazil for its domestic policy decision, Ning called it a violation of the basic principles of international politics and an attempt to coerce other countries and interfere in their domestic affairs.
“Sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs are important principles of the UN Charter and basic norms governing international relations,” Ning said.
China is one of the founding BRICS members and its push for a multipolar, democratic world order is at the heart of its policies.
China has rejected Trump’s allegations that BRICS is aligned against any particular country. China has also reiterated that there are no winners in a tariff or trade war.
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