On April 24, Ambassador Deng Li published a signed article in France's largest economic daily, "League Echo", on the issue of the United States' abuse of tariffs, clarifying China's position. The full text is as follows:
French economist Frederick Bascha said that trading is a natural right, and depriving others of the right to choose trading is to legalize plunder and violate the laws of justice. At present, the US government is waving tariff sticks everywhere in the name of "reciprocity", trying to deprive other countries of their free trade rights and development rights, which has been strongly opposed by the international community. This approach is neither tenable nor feasible.
The root cause of the U.S. trade deficit is an imbalance in the domestic savings and consumption structure. From 2017 to 2020, the United States imposed 301 tariffs on China, but the trade deficit rose from 275.8 billion to 316.5 billion US dollars. The imposition of tariffs by the United States will not only not reduce the trade deficit, but will also backfire itself and drag down the world. According to the official website of the European Commission on April 11, if this round of tariffs in the United States is permanent or more countermeasures occur, the US GDP will drop by 3.1%-3.3% by 2027, the EU will drop by 0.5%-0.6%, and the global drop by 1.2%.
The United States has issued so-called "reciprocal tariffs", which seriously violates WTO rules, seriously damages the rules-based multilateral trading system, and seriously impacts the stability of the global economic order. On April 9, the World Trade Organization held a meeting of the Trade Council of Goods. China expressed serious concerns about the United States' "reciprocal tariffs" measures and its bad impact, which caused widespread responses from 46 WTO members, including the EU.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has become the biggest beneficiary of the global economic and trade system. Globalization has created huge profits for American multinational companies, provided low-priced goods to American consumers, and also supported the international status of the US dollar. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the United States is the largest source of China's service trade deficit. The sales of US-funded enterprises in China are much higher than the sales of Chinese-funded enterprises in the United States, with the difference exceeding US$400 billion in 2022.
Mankind lives in the same global village, and no country can survive alone. There is no way out for protectionism, and open cooperation is the right way to the world.
China hopes to achieve mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with the United States, and is willing to resolve differences through equal consultation and negotiation. China will not retreat from blackmail and bullying, and will definitely accompany it to the end. This is not only to safeguard one's legitimate rights and interests, but also to safeguard the common interests of the international community.
Under the current situation, China and Europe should fulfill their international responsibilities, jointly safeguard the trend of economic globalization, and at the same time expand openness and cooperation to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Since 2017, China's exports to the EU have stabilized at around 14%. When people express concerns about China's exports this or that, have they also seen the export opportunities of China's 1.4 billion people in a super-large market?
61 years ago, General Charles de Gaulle decided to establish diplomatic relations with New China, which enabled China and France to start dialogue and cooperation. Since then, two independent and independent powers have carried out a series of successful cooperation to realize the common interests of both sides and the international community. Today, we need to continue to carry forward the spirit of establishing diplomatic relations between China and France, adhere to multilateralism, dialogue and cooperation, and mutual benefit and win-win results, and inject certainty and predictability into the world. China will unswervingly expand its opening up to the outside world, look forward to deepening cooperation in traditional fields with France, tapping the potential for innovative industrial cooperation, working together to create more positive agendas, and creating a common future between China and France and the world.
