China has prepared powerful countermeasures against US companies in case the trade standoff with the US worsens under the new administration of Donald Trump, reported the newspaper Financial Times (FT) with reference to sources.
Beijing was not prepared for the sharp steps taken by the White House during the first term of Trump's presidency - imposing higher tariffs, tightening investment controls and sanctions against Chinese companies. For eight years, however, the PRC has taken decisive legislative measures that “allow it to blacklist foreign companies, impose sanctions on them, and restrict America's access to critical supply chains,”, the publication said.
China already has a law “Countering Foreign Sanctions” that allows it to push back against measures taken by other countries, as well as a “list of untrustworthy organizations” abroad, undermining national interests. Provisions have been introduced to regulate the export of dual-use goods in response to the actions of “some foreign countries and organizations” which “using various pretexts related to Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, defame, attack and distort the development of China, seek its containment and suppression".
„It's a two-way process. China, of course, will try to interact with President Trump in every way, will try to negotiate,”, the publication quoted Wang Dong, executive director of the Institute of Global Cooperation and Understanding at Peking University. “But if nothing can be achieved through negotiations, as happened in 2018, and we have to fight, we will resolutely defend China's rights and interests.“
As Andrew Gilholm, an analyst at the consultancy Control Risks, noted, many underestimate the damage Beijing can do to US interests. This is proven by the latest "warning shots" from China, the expert said. These include sanctions imposed on Skydio, the largest drone manufacturer in the US, which also supplies them to the Ukrainian military. They prohibit, among other things, Chinese groups from supplying the US corporation with “critical components”.
As previously reported, Trump wants to put Robert Lighthizer, a supporter of the trade war with China, back in the White House. After taking office in January, the US president-elect could appoint the protectionist to represent him in trade talks. The FT recalled that Lighthizer was one of the initiators of the trade war against China launched by the first Trump administration. The United States has imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and forced Beijing in 2020 to sign an agreement with Washington to increase purchases of American goods and services by $200 billion over two years.