U.S.-China cold trade war may spiral into open confrontation — diplomat

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

“Trump’s attempt to apply business tactics on a global level has actually produced results. He has already achieved 50% of his goals. And once he meets with Xi Jinping, we’ll be very surprised by the outcome. The fact that a system built over decades has been dismantled, and trust in the U.S. has been undermined, doesn’t seem to concern the current White House administration. They are focused on short-term results,” the diplomat noted.

According to him, such statements and methods are being used in many countries around the world. For example, Ukraine has also faced the approach of “quick fixes.” This is the style of the new political era. And now Donald Trump has tools he didn’t have in 2017 during his first term—otherwise, he would have done the same back then.

“The only question is—what will China do next? Both sides are using phrases like ‘to be respected.’ Right now, a cold trade war is underway, with goods no longer being supplied due to the imposition of tariffs. U.S. customs tariffs on China now stand at 145%, and these are not regulatory tariffs—they effectively halt trade and signal a shift toward a phase of confrontation. This is extremely dangerous with China, as it could end in a real, hot conflict. The only thing is that China is not ready for that yet, so most likely, after such clashes, negotiations will follow,” Valeriy Chaly concluded.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs

On April 2, President Trump announced tariffs at least 10% on nearly all goods imported into the United States. These tariffs are set to take effect on April 9.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged countries targeted by tariffs not to take immediate retaliatory actions, believing it would lead to escalation.

Soon after, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency to "boost competitiveness, protect sovereignty, and strengthen national and economic security."

However, within a day of Trump imposing new tariffs, the combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest people dropped by $208 billion.

Later, British company Jaguar Land Rover announced it would halt car shipments to the United States for a month due to the 25% tariff imposed by President Trump. Audi made a similar decision.

On April 7, Trump announced that if China did not lift its 34% tariffs by April 8, the U.S. would impose even higher tariffs on Chinese goods. The next day, the United States introduced 104% tariffs on Chinese products.

On the same day, Ursula von der Leyen stated that the EU had offered the U.S. zero tariffs on industrial goods after Trump’s tariff imposition.

On April 9, U.S. President Donald Trump described his global tariff policy as a “war against the world” but later backpedaled, saying it was "not a war at all."