China has condemned Vice President JD Vance as “ignorant and impolite” after Vance referred to the U.S. borrowing money from “Chinese peasants.”
“China’s position on China-US economic and trade relations has been made very clear,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, adding, “It is surprising and sad to hear such ignorant and impolite words from this vice president.”
President Trump has upended the world economy with sweeping tariffs and has ruled out any pause in his aggressive trade policy despite a dramatic market sell-off.
In addition to a universal baseline tariff of 10% on goods imported into the U.S., Mr. Trump also announced “reciprocal” duties for imports coming from certain countries, which are set to take effect Wednesday. China was hit with the highest of those additional taxes, initially 34%, although Mr. Trump then upped it to 104% after Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Vance defended U.S. tariffs as an antidote to a “globalist economy” he said had not worked for ordinary Americans.
“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” Vance said. “That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. It’s not a recipe for low prices, and it’s not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America.”
Mr. Trump believes the tariffs will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing foreign companies to relocate to the U.S., rather than making goods abroad. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik told “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan on Sunday that the policy will help protect American factories and “reset the power” of the country.
However, economists have questioned the approach, with some saying the tariffs are arbitrary and others raising concerns about the ways in which Mr. Trump’s levies will drive up the price of everyday goods. On Monday, Goldman Sachs economists cited the tariffs in a report that raised the odds of a U.S. recession to 45%, while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned the taxes could slow economic growth and “will likely increase inflation.”
