It's time for US to wake up and smell the coffee: China Daily editorial

With a week to go before the United States imposes 10 percent tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods, as threatened by the US leader on Aug 1, Washington must have been waiting for the other shoe to drop since on previous occasions China announced countermeasures soon after the US levied tariffs on Chinese imports.

Beijing announced its latest countermeasure on Friday — 10 percent and 5 percent tariffs on $75 billion of US goods in two batches. The first to be imposed on Sept 1 and the second on Dec 15. Which drives home the message, again, that it will, under no circumstances, give in to Washington's bullying tactics, and instead keep fighting until the US puts an end to its "maximum pressure" policy.

The meeting of the leaders of China and the US on the sidelines of the Osaka G20 Summit on June 29 created a positive atmosphere for the resumption of bilateral trade talks, as they agreed the negotiation should be held on an equal footing and with mutual respect, and the US leader pledged that he would not levy new tariffs on Chinese goods.

Had the US leader not gone back on his word one month later, the atmosphere could have further improved and the trade talks continued uninterrupted.

But with the US proceeding at full throttle with its beggar-thy-neighbor policy, China has no choice but to fight back to protect its core national and economic interests.

Yet its countermeasures, even this time, demonstrate it is still exercising restraint, in line with its stance that a trade war is beneficial to none, but it will fight one if it has to.

China's tariff list is the result of prudent calculation, weighing both the pros and cons. And although the tariff list is small compared with that of the US, its impact should not be underestimated given the delicate situation of the US economy.

Notably, China has made provisions to protect Chinese consumers and businesses from the side effects of its new tariffs, as it would review the tariff list from time to time and could exclude some items from it.

China has taken the countermeasures so that US decision-makers wake up and smell the coffee. And appreciate that until Washington follows the Osaka consensus, there can be no deal.