China Not Caving to Trump's Sweeping Tariff Play, Analyst Warns, As Revenge Levies Loom

China is vowing to "fight to the end" against the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, with analysts warning that Beijing is not set to cave to the threats and is willing to engage as the deadline for the levies to come into effect loom large.

Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at Brookings, a Washington-based think tank, wrote on X that "there's debate about whether the world is entering a period of blocs or a transition to an era of globalization minus the U.S.," claiming that "Beijing seems to prefer the latter scenario."

"China's leaders will not countenance being seen as passive in response to the U.S.," Hass added.

Trump said on Monday that China should remove the 34% tariffs imposed as a response to his earlier levies or he would increase the figure by a further 50%. Should he make good on the threat, large portions of Chinese imports to the U.S. would end up facing a 104% tariff.

Beijing's Commerce Ministry has called the tariffs "completely groundless" and a "typical unilateral bullying practice." "The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate," it added.

The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the U.S. China will never accept this. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end."

Trump has not shown any signs of de-escalation. On Monday he said he is not considering pausing the tariffs to negotiate with other countries and give markets a respite, adding that it is an "honor" to do so.

"We're not looking at that, we have many countries coming to negotiate deals with us. They'll be fair deals and in certain cases they'll be paying substantial tariffs," said Trump at the White House while talking to press after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We have one shot at this and no other president is going to do this. It's an honor to do it because we have been destroyed. We are $36 trillion in debt for a reason. We'll be talking to China, to a lot of different countries. We'll seek to make a really fair deal for the U.S., not for others. This is America first. Other people in the Oval Office put America last," Trump added. "We have an opportunity to change the fabric of our country. We have an opportunity to reset the table on trade."

Originally published on Latin Times