China Makes Trump Trade War Vow: 'To the End'

China will fight the U.S. "to the end" if President Donald Trump continues his trade war, its foreign ministry has said.

"If the U.S. disregards the interests of the two countries and the international community and insists on fighting a tariff war and a trade war, China will be with it to the end," foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday, China's Observer Net reported.

Why It Matters

The escalating U.S.-China trade tensions are destabilizing global markets and pushing major economies closer to recession. A trade war risks undermining critical supply chains, raising costs for businesses and consumers.

Trump staked his presidential campaign on promises of economic resurgence, a message that will unravel if the U.S. slows down or even enters recession ahead of the 2026 midterms. The president's economic polling numbers are already slipping.

Meanwhile, China's already slowing economy may be further hampered by reduced trade and shifting investment from Western companies wary of policy unpredictability. The trade war could reshape the structure of global trade and commerce.

What To Know

Trump threatened a further 50-percent tariff on Chinese goods from Wednesday unless Beijing walked back its 34-percent tariff and other non-tariff countermeasures against the U.S. He had previously accused China of having "panicked" and "played it wrong."

China was retaliating against an additional 34-percent tariff from Trump, who said he was reciprocating existing trade barriers imposed by China against the U.S.

On Monday, Trump posted to his Truth Social platform that he would also terminate "all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us" unless it dropped its 34-percent tariffs.

The China-U.S. trade war and Trump's tariffs on trading partners across the world fueled severe volatility in the global markets as investors fear the economic fallout, particularly a recession in the U.S.

The tariffs are also a big economic knock to China, which was already experiencing a slowdown.

The trade war may cause Western businesses to rethink their supply chains and pull back from China. These companies include Apple, which plans to shift more of its iPhone manufacturing to India instead, The Wall Street Journal reported.

What People Are Saying

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday: "I would like to stress once again that there are no winners in trade wars and tariff wars, and there is no way out for protectionism… China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests."

Jian's comments echoed those made by a spokesman from China's Commerce Ministry, state-run news agency Xinhua reported: "China will fight till the end if the U.S. side is bent on going down the wrong path."

Steve Miran, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, said at a Hudson Institute event on Monday that the tariffs are needed to help rebuild America's domestic manufacturing capacity.

"We need to be able to make things in this country, as we saw during COVID, when many of our supply chains could not survive without being reliant on our biggest adversary, China," Miran said.

"We clearly should not rely on our biggest adversary for equipment essential to keeping our population safe and secure. Nor should our biggest adversary be allowed to benefit so much from an international security and financial architecture we finance."

What's Next

The White House has shown no signs of backing down, with Trump threatening to raise tariffs again from Wednesday unless China reverses its measures.

Beijing has pledged to continue retaliating, setting the stage for a prolonged economic standoff that could raise prices on consumer goods and disrupt the U.S. retail sector in the coming months.

As both countries remain entrenched, investors and global markets are bracing for further volatility.