China is reaching out to the world to make trade deals amid President Donald Trump’s push to isolate the nation by dishing out massive tariffs.
So far, China has made inroads with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Europe amid Trump’s tariffs threatening to stifle the economy of the world’s second-largest market. Trump’s tariffs, which have now risen to a whopping total of 245% for some goods, aim to cripple China by cutting access to its largest export partner and cut off the nation from other trading partners, sources told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday.
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“This is the first time that anyone of any consequence has stood up and said, ‘no more,’” Stephen Yates, senior research Fellow for China and National Security Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We are going to renegotiate the terms of our engagement in a way that is more fair to my country’s interests, and there are some priorities that you’re going to have to address.”
Vietnam accounts for nearly 4% of all exports from China in 2023, totaling $135 billion worth in goods, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) data. Vietnam signed a trade deal with China during Xi Jinping’s visit on Monday, further strengthening the ties between the two communist countries.
Vietnam is also a large U.S. trade partner, exporting over $136 billion of goods to the United States in 2024, according to U.S. Census data.
Malaysia accounted for around 1.91% of all Chinese exports, valued at $65.5 billion, in 2023. Xi Jinping stressed cooperation between the two nations on Wednesday, with Malaysia also supplying the CCP with nearly 66% of its crude oil exports in 2023.
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“Beijing believes it has advantages in its neighboring region and Trump’s volatile policy is harming America’s credibility and soft power in Asia,” Zhao Minghao, professor of international studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the WSJ.
China has also shown an interest in partnering with Europe amid Trump’s tariffs, with Beijing being the second-largest trading partner with the EU behind the U.S. Recently, the EU considered dropping tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, instead setting minimum prices on the products.
China’s economy was already in a precarious position before the onset of the trade war, in part due to an ongoing struggle to fix a dismal real estate market and a rapidly aging population. Moreover, China is struggling to find buyers for its large amounts of cheap goods it once sent to the U.S. en masse.
Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to investigate the possibility and feasibility of new tariffs on “critical minerals,” which include cobalt, lithium, nickel, and others frequently used to produce advanced goods.
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“China seems to think it can survive without the United States making substantial investments in China,” Yates told the DCNF. “It doesn’t seem to believe that after tariffs, COVID, fentany,l and other activities, America and others just might be serious about re-balancing our supply chains. So they seem to be not in a panic, but somewhat arrogant, if you ask me.”
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
