Xi congratulates trump while tariffs threaten US‑China ties
Chinese leader Xi Jinping congratulated Donald Trump on his presidential election victory in the USA, expressing hope for strengthened dialogue between the countries and the development of mutually beneficial "cooperation," state media reported on Thursday.
Xi Jinping emphasized that "history has shown that China and the United States benefit from cooperation and suffer from confrontation," reported the Xinhua agency.
US elections: China reacts
"A stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship is in the common interest of both countries and is in line with the expectations of the international community," Xi wrote in a congratulatory telegram to Trump.
The Chinese leader expressed hope that "the two sides will uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation."
In the same dispatch, Xinhua reported that congratulations to Vice President-elect Mike Pence were separately given by Han Zheng, vice-chairman of the People’s Republic of China.
On Wednesday evening Eastern Time, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a one-sentence statement saying: "We respect the choice of the American people and congratulate Mr. Trump on being elected as president of the United States."
As noted by Bloomberg, Beijing typically congratulates the winner of the US presidential elections quickly, except in situations like when President Joe Biden won the 2020 vote. China was one of the few countries that delayed its reaction for a few days because Trump contested the results.
Trump threatens tariffs
One of Donald Trump's main ideas to "make America great again" is to launch a wave of tariffs on imported goods.
Trump threatened China with tariffs of 150-200% on Chinese exports if it were to intervene in Taiwan. Regardless of whether an attack on Taiwan would occur, he also promised that Chinese goods imported into America would face 60% tariffs.
The American think tank Tax Foundation estimated that fulfilling Donald Trump's campaign declarations would decrease GDP by at least 0.8% and reduce employment by 684,000 full-time jobs. "Our estimates do not capture the effects of retaliation, nor the additional harms that would stem from starting a global trade war," the analysis stated.
