https://xcancel.com/SpoxCHN_LinJian/status/1922629167608418774
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/xw/fyrbt/202505/t20250514_11622840.html
CCTV: It was reported that after China-U.S. Economic and Trade Meeting in Geneva, China will lower the tariffs on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent for an initial period of 90 days. Meanwhile, the U.S. will cut its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent, 20 percent of which is imposed on the grounds of the fentanyl issue. What is China’s comment?
Lin Jian: China and the U.S. reached multiple positive common understandings at the economic and trade meeting in Geneva. Both sides agreed to slash tariffs on each other’s goods. The U.S. committed to remove 91 percent in tariffs, and suspend 24 percent in “reciprocal tariffs.” China would accordingly remove 91 percent in counter tariffs and suspend 24 percent in counter tariffs. The two countries respectively retain the remaining 10 percent in tariffs.
Right after the U.S. groundlessly levied two rounds of tariffs on Chinese goods under the pretext of the fentanyl issue, China responded with tariffs and non-tariff countermeasures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. These countermeasures remain in force.
Bloomberg: The former Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said the U.S. has made it clear to Beijing that failure to coordinate on the fentanyl issue must come at a price and that China does have the capacity to stop the flow of precursor chemicals. What is the Ministry’s response?
Lin Jian: I have just stated China’s principled position on the fentanyl tariff issue. China has made it clear more than once that fentanyl is the U.S.’s problem, not China’s. It’s the U.S.’s responsibility to solve the issue. Despite the goodwill China has shown, the U.S. wrongly slapped tariffs on Chinese imports by citing the issue of fentanyl. The move has dealt a heavy blow to China-U.S. dialogue and cooperation on counternarcotics, and gravely hurt China’s interests. If the U.S. truly wants to cooperate with China, it should stop vilifying and shifting the blame on China, and seek dialogue with China based on equality, respect and mutual benefit. China firmly opposes the irresponsible and false accusations made by the U.S. individual you mentioned.
https://english.news.cn/20250514/6766a5d013ea4105893bc6840366c866/c.html
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1334050.shtml
spoiler
my previous title: China is upset about US-China tariff deal, says both sides agreed on 10% tariff, US imposed 30% tariff blaming US Fentanyl crisis on China
If US wanted to solve fentanyl problem they should get rid of CIA in the first place, and war on drugs in the second. Blaming China is just pretext for the trade war.
What happens when America picks a fight with a country that can fight back
Honestly if I was China I would troll the US by fluctuating the Tariff percentage every week.
This week it’s 90%
This week it’s 5%
Oops, it’s back to 90, sorry
This would only hurt the Chinese small businesses and consumers that rely on imported US goods for ummmm, errrr. hmm.
Warmongering?
Can’t ever negotiate or come to an agreement with the US.
They break it every time.
the United States is “non-agreement capable,” and there’s no point in expecting it to respect diplomacy and/or rule of law in international relations."
It’s how imperialists operate. You can never trust them.
It’s not even a Trump thing, brokering then breaking agreements has been a US thing since at least the 90s and arguably at least post WW2.
The current trump quixotic contrarianism is certainly a new version of it, especially how naked it is, but it ain’t new per se.
China’s not angry, they’re just clarifying. The agreement on the tariffs after April 2nd were reduced to 10% on both sides. Additionally, for the fentanyl tariffs, China has other countermeasures in place that will be removed if the fentanyl tariffs are removed. How are people reading this as if China is angry. Why would China be angry about something they agreed to?
Exactly, you’re correct as far as I can tell. The fentanyl tarrifs were a known “entity” that came into place even before the “liberation day” tarrifs and are seperate from those. China’s response to that was mainly other countermeasures seperate from tarrifs, which are still in place now, as the fentanyl tarrifs are still in place.
The thing that China is upset about is being blamed for the US Fentanyl problem and the additional 20% tariff. “Despite the goodwill China has shown, the U.S. wrongly slapped tariffs on Chinese imports by citing the issue of fentanyl.” “The move has dealt a heavy blow to China-U.S. dialogue and cooperation on counternarcotics, and gravely hurt China’s interests.”
I changed my post title to match the articles from China as to not editorialize. I still think the post is important.
I’m trying to understand China’s alleged role in the US’s fentanyl problem. Is fentanyl largely being manufactured in the US but with chemicals that are often sourced from China?
The US claims that China is shipping “fentanyl precursors”, like ingredients to make fentanyl. The US basically says that China is selling kits to make fentanyl. I saw one US politician compare fentanyl precursors to cake mix.
I’m trying to make sense of the articles. I originally watched the press conference livestreamed this morning.
If I am interpreting it correctly, China thought both side had agreed to 10% tariffs at the Geneva talks. The US had originally imposed the 20% Fentanyl tariff on February 1. “Lin made the remarks in an answer to a question about the U.S. imposing 20 percent tariffs on China under the pretext of the fentanyl issue after the Geneva talks.” The way that it is worded in the CGTN article and in the tweet seems as if China had not expected the US to continue imposing the Fentanyl tariff after the Geneva talks.
The tweet and the articles say that “countermeasures remain in effect”. This statement contradicts what is written in the US-China Joint statement on May 12, which says China will “remove the non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States since April 2, 2025”. It seems as though China has now decided to keep countermeasures in effect because of the 20% Fentanyl tariff. I am not sure what the countermeasures are.
