Donald Trump closes China on trade

Chinese efforts to engage the United States on the end of the prices seem to be blocked, those responsible would have had trouble reaching higher level counterparts.

Nowsweek Contacted the White House and the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry with written requests for comments.

Why it matters

President Donald Trump last week doubled the general prices on Chinese imports at 20% and imposed 25% of rights on a range of Canadian and Mexican products, citing their inability to limit the flow of fentanyl chemicals in the United States.

China, a key supplier of fentanyl precursors, said that it actively retracts illicit drug flows and has highlighted several high-level meetings with the United States since 2024. Beijing has accused Washington of trade armaments and denies the responsibility of the American drug demand.

What to know

The latest series of work levels between us and Chinese officials would have taken negotiators, brought Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the issue.

The Chinese part believes that the White House has not clearly described the necessary steps to raise the prices, while US officials maintain that these requests have already been transmitted through diplomatic channels, including via the Chinese ambassador to US XI Fenng.

Chinese officials claim that Washington’s messaging has been inconsistent, which does not know how specific actions are necessary to fulfill American conditions. The United States officials, however, insist that Beijing has already been informed, pointing to multiple diplomatic exchanges.

Among Washington's requests are all the sending of precursors to Mexico, where a large part of the fentanyl linked to the United States is produced. More targeted conditions include the imposition of the death penalty on smuggling fentanyl and the publication of a first -page article condemning the fentanyl trade in the Official Journal of the Chinese Communist Party.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, called for “dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality and mutual respect”, when Asked Wednesday If the Trump administration communicates enough on trade and other economic issues.

She said that “China-US trade links are based on two-way and reciprocal interactions” and that Beijing has promised would respond to “arbitrary pressure” with countermeasures.

The remarks followed the pointed reprimand of Mao the day before, when she accused Washington of using fentanyl as a pretext for the price hike.

A price is a tax on foreign goods supported by importers and generally transmitted to consumers in the form of higher price.

What people say

Donald Trump, American president, said before a February 26 Meeting of the cabinet:: “We are going to have a good relationship with China, but they will not be able to take advantage of us. What they did to Biden was – he didn't know what was going on. He didn't know what he was doing. The administration did not know what they were doing. It was very sad to look.”

Da Wei, director, Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told Bloomberg: “Without contacting consumption, even if China stops exporting precursors, other countries will fill the gap. In fact, the precursors of fentanyl come not only from China, Mexico and Canada, but also from several other countries.”

Kishore Mahbubani, former Singapore ambassador to the United Nations, told CNBC: “If Trump can lead China to open its market, accept more American exports and perhaps even invest more in the United States, it is possible to have a win-win commercial agreement. The Chinese clearly want to have an agreement with the United States. They do not want this continuing competition.”

What happens next?

Regarding the leader's communication to leader, a familiar source with the White House discussions told Bloomberg that he was currently not planned to set up a meeting between Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The last two spoke in January, before the inauguration of Trump.