Trade war, day 82: China establishes hard Party line opposing U.S. tariffs and ‘trade bullyism’

In case you’re living under a rock — or haven’t signed up for The China Project Access yet, and didn’t receive our last two updates (1, 2) — here’s the current status of the U.S.-China trade war:

• As of yesterday, about $360 billion worth of goods normally traded between the two countries are subject to tariffs, ranging from a 5 percent tax at the low end of China’s side to 25 percent at the high end on both sides. American tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods are set to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent at the end of the year.
• The Economist estimates that “at least 44 percent” of Chinese goods being imported into America are now subject to levies (porous paywall).
• The latest trade negotiations fell apart before they began, and now China is reiterating that it refuses to negotiate while the U.S. holds a “knife to the throat,” Al Jazeera reports.

The most important update to note since yesterday is that the Chinese government’s new white paper on the trade war, “The Facts and China’s Position on China-US Trade Friction,” was republished in its 36,000-Chinese-character entirety in the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily.

As Bloomberg reporter Peter Martin notes, this newspaper “plays a crucial role in internal party communication,” and “reprinting it signals that this is the party’s line on the trade war and that cadres should understand it and stick to it.”

You can read the whole white paper in English or in Chinese. In English, it is a dense, 71-page Word document with section titles such as “Mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between China and the US in trade and economy” and “The trade bullyism practices of the US administration.”

More trade war and related reporting:

• Rhetoric from Beijing
  ‘No one can take us down,’ China’s state-run media claims as trade war heats up / CNBC
  “In Monday editorials, Chinese state-controlled newspapers such as Global Times and China Daily’s editorial pages were quick to claim that Beijing had stayed calm and fair in the face of Washington’s trade pressure.”
  American attacks on China risk total destruction of mutual gains, Chinese foreign minister warns / SCMP
  “Washington is putting four decades of gains in its relationship with Beijing at risk of ‘total destruction’ with its repeated attacks on China, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a group of businesspeople and others in New York on Monday.”
• China first in response to America first?
  Trade war: Ford looks at making more cars in China to beat tariffs / Bloomberg via SCMP
  “With tariffs on imports of US-made autos into China reaching 40 percent, the American car maker is considering boosting production of some models there.”
• Other effects on American companies, industries, and products
  Walmart says Trump’s new tariffs could raise prices between 10 and 25 percent / Newsweek
  Trump’s China fight puts U.S. tech in the cross hairs / NYT (porous paywall)
  From hammers to hair clippers: How Trump’s trade war with China affects you / MarketWatch
• Made in China 2025 (?) and the push for domestic chip production
  ‘Made in China 2025’: The Guangzhou start-up aiming big in semiconductors / SCMP
  Gowin Semiconductor is a four-year-old startup that “believes it has what it takes to challenge the global leaders, US companies Xilinx, Altera and Lattice, which together control 90 percent of the global market for the special chips.”
• China financial sector opening
  Beijing pushes ahead with opening up its financial sector despite trade tensions / CNBC
• Crossover into U.S. racial politics
  Caught in the crossfire: Chinese-Americans feel the heat as tensions flare / SCMP
  “With tensions flaring between Washington and Beijing over their spiraling trade war, Chinese in the United States — both visiting nationals and Americans of Chinese descent — fear they might become collateral damage, considered a threat to national security.”

Previously in The China Project’s trade war coverage:

Trade war, day 77: September 24 escalation forebodes a long and bloody conflict