China doesn't fear trade war, urges equal, respectful talks, envoy says

By ZHAO HUANXIN in Washington | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2025-05-05 23:21

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Wang Bing, Vice-Governor of Gansu province, delivers a speech at an open house event at the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, on May 3. Gansu in Northwest China has a long history of friendship and cooperation with the United States, dating back to the early 20th century. Wang is in the US to attend events marking the 40th anniversary of the sister-state friendship between Gansu and Oklahoma. Zhao Huanxin / China Daily

Total goods exports to China, which hit a high of $151.5 billion in 2022, contracted slightly in 2024, but had surged 23.4 percent from a decade ago, according to the business council's report.

The data does not reflect US and Chinese tariff increases implemented so far this year, which are expected to significantly reduce US exports if they remain in place, the council said in a news release on April 29.

Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, said, "If these tariffs remain in place, trade between the two countries will fall precipitously, sacrificing billions of dollars of exports and hundreds of thousands of American jobs, potentially destabilizing the US economy and significantly weakening America's global competitiveness."

The US administration's trade policies are already having an impact on household budgets and causing frustration among Americans who have noticed higher prices for goods, according to US media reports.

The US-imposed tariffs and the threatened and imposed retaliatory tariffs are expected to reduce the US' GDP by 1 percent, and they amount to an average tax increase of nearly $1,300 per US household in 2025, according to a study by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation that was updated on April 18.

For California, whose economy is the largest among US states, the direct and indirect economic costs of tariffs are "in the billions and billions of dollars", according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

"It has an outsized impact on tourism, on trade, small businesses, large businesses ... and the reputation (damage) is incalculable," Newsom, a Democrat, said in an online interview with Nikkei Asia on Friday.

California exported goods valued at nearly $15 billion to China last year, a drop of 9.5 percent year-on-year, but its exports of services, including those related to tourism and education, grew 6.3 percent year-on-year to $8.8 billion in 2023, according to the US-China Business Council report.

The governor, who visited Beijing last year, said the state will remain open to trade with China, as the current US administration's tariff policy has threatened California's economy. He said the state is a "stable partner" and has "extended an open hand" to China and other trading partners.

Global trade is not a zero-sum game, Newsom said.