China gives scathing response about 'destructive' US amid ongoing tariff war

China Daily has unpacked Donald Trump's rationale behind his tariff war on countries across the globe arguing why the US is 'not getting ripped off by anybody'.

A fierce game of tariff tennis - without any of the fun of hearing the players' serve sounds - has been ongoing between China and the US.

Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping have been hitting back and forward, Trump raising the tariffs on China to a staggering 145 percent - and if you thought that was bad, he was only just getting started, later whipping them up to a whopping 245 percent.

Why? Well, China retaliated and not only that, but raised tariffs on the US from 84 to 125 percent.

When asked about the White House's executive order implementing 245 percent tariffs on China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian simply replied, as quoted by the Global Times: "You can ask the US side for the specific tax rate figures."

However, it would appear China hasn't held it's tongue quite so much in a recent piece by state-run newspaper China Daily.

In an article published online and updated on April 15 on ChinaDaily.com, the outlet addressed Trump's slamming of other countries of 'ripping' the US off - both in terms of domestic jobs, US industries and resources.

China reflected on this 'fabricated premise of a long-standing grievance' being the biggest driving factor of Trump's so-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs which it dubs a 'haughty demolition job' and 'radical power play'.

China Daily continues: "One of the aims of the US administration is to use the tariffs to close, if not reverse, the trade deficits with nearly all of the US' trade partners.

"The preoccupation with trade deficits stems from a warped idea that they are proof that the US has been exploited by other countries.

"This has also made the US president and his trade advisers wrongly claim that the current rules governing global trade have put the US at a distinct disadvantage."

Instead, the article argues the US 'sells far more services than it buys from other countries' quoting World Trade Organization director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala saying the 'clear winner' in 'global trade in services' is the US.

Put your hand in the air if you had the 'warped idea' of unleashing tariffs across the globe? (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The real 'problem'? Well, the US' own greed, China Daily argues.

The article resolves the US is ultimately 'not getting ripped off by anybody' but the real 'problem' is it's been 'living beyond its means for decades'.

It states: "It consumes more than it produces. It has outsourced its manufacturing and borrowed money in order to have a higher standard of living than it's entitled to based on its productivity.

"Rather than being 'cheated', the US has been taking a free ride on the globalization train. The US should stop whining about itself being a victim in global trade and put an end to its capricious and destructive behavior.

"Instead, it should commit itself to working with its trading partners to establish a fair, free and WTO-centered multilateral trading system that is in line with the times."

UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.

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