On March 15, The San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled S.F.’s top Chinese diplomat critical of tariffs, in which Consul General Zhang Jianmin criticized the US side for the tariff war between the two counties.
Zhang pointed out that China imposed controls over its manufacturing, sale, use and export of fentanyl in 2019. However, the US side has used fentanyl issue as an excuse to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. There would be no winner from trade war. The US approach will undermine the foundation of China-US counter-narcotics cooperation, and harm the interests of the US West Coast, which relies a lot on external trade. The tariff war will ultimately harm ordinary people the most.
Zhang emphasized that it is easy to blame others for one’s own problem, but fentanyl crisis in the US is not caused by China. That China’s kindness is met with the punishment of higher tariffs is unacceptable, and deeply offensive to the Chinese people. The US side needs to come back to reason and try to solve the problem through a mutually respectful dialogue.
The article says that imposing tariffs cost the U.S. an estimated $7.2 billion in real income in 2018. Experts generally agree that tariffs aren’t a good way to address the US trade deficit with China and increase the costs of goods for American consumers.