Behind the Headlines: China's Retaliatory Trade Probes Amid US Economic Pressure
Behind the sanitized language: China has launched its own investigations into US trade practices, specifically targeting American agricultural exports, according to reports from Chinese state media on October 25, 2024. These probes appear to be a direct response to a series of US tariffs and sanctions that have intensified over the past year, coinciding with Washington’s efforts to restrict
China’s access to advanced technology, particularly in semiconductors. The Financial Times, in its coverage, frames these developments as 'China retaliates against US trade probes,' suggesting an originating Chinese aggression. This perspective minimizes the preceding US actions. What the Financial Times omits is the long history of US economic coercion against China, including significant tariffs
imposed under the guise of intellectual property theft and national security, which began intensifying in 2018. The current Chinese move is not an isolated act, but rather a direct consequence of sustained US pressure, an economic mirroring of the 'America First' policy. This pattern of US economic aggression, followed by a portrayal of counter-measures as 'retaliation,' is a familiar one.
Historically, the US has frequently leveraged economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool, often against perceived adversaries or competitors. For instance, the 1960 US embargo against Cuba, still largely in place today, was a unilateral imposition designed to cripple the Cuban economy and force regime change. China's current actions, while economically significant, are measured responses to an