Financial Times: Beijing Still Has Cards Unplayed to Counter Trump's Tariffs After China announced last week an additional 34% tariff on U.S. imports in retaliation for America's "reciprocal tariff," U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday that he would impose an extra 50% tariff on China if Beijing does not withdraw its countermeasure plan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the Chinese "neither provoke nor fear trouble," and that "pressure, threats, and extortion are not the right way to deal with China." The Financial Times reported that Beijing has kept some of its firepower for the escalating trade war, thus leaving room for implementing stricter export controls. On July 7, the Financial Times quoted Tu Xinquan, director of the China WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, as saying, "China’s response to the first two rounds of tariff hikes was mild and patient, but we found that patience did not help." Chris Connors, deputy director of Trivium China based in Beijing, estimated that Beijing strategically left itself room to continue increasing countermeasures as long as its economic interests were threatened. Connors told the Financial Times that although China has announced export controls on seven categories of rare earth materials, the U.S. dependence on these imported rare earths is relatively limited. However, light rare earths, which are crucial for medical devices, electric vehicles, and smartphones, could be a future target for Beijing to control exports. Connors said that the Chinese government still has room to enforce stricter export controls... Both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times believe that China has been trying to ease relations with Trump 2.0 and even sent high-ranking officials to attend Trump's presidential inauguration ceremony. However, when China discovered itself as one of Trump's main targets for "reciprocal tariffs," all patience ended. Another card in Beijing's hand is to ban domestic companies from investing in the United States. Although some electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers hope to invest in the U.S., their further actions still require government approval. [Image: //p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-ezhpy3drpa/42dfd77331214982b0eb7ed592fd1a2f~tplv-obj:1536:1536.image?_iz=97245&bid=15&from=post&gid=1828852709544960&lk3s=06827d14&x-expires=1751932800&x-signature=ElgacIOE2o%2FPWj2Z5WYWcOpD6cY%3D] Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828852709544960/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the views of the author.