China media hails Canada’s ‘Chinese-style’ tariff retaliation

BEIJING – China’s nationalist tabloid Global Times praised Canada’s retaliation against US tariffs, casting Ottawa’s move as validating Beijing’s opposition to Washington’s protectionist trade policies.Calling Canada’s action “Chinese-style counter attack,” the newspaper said in an editorial on Aug 24 that the government’s decision shows that “more countries are realising that concessions toward the US do not necessarily bring respect and stability.”Canada walked away from trade negotiations with the US over the weekend, with both sides blaming the other for last-minute changes.The US will impose 50 per cent tariffs on about US$20 billion (S$25.39 billion) of Canadian goods, while Ottawa has pledged to retaliate “dollar-for-dollar” starting Sept 8.The Global Times cited US trade representative Jamieson Greer’s comparison of Canada’s measures to “the kind of things that China would do.”That remark amounted to an acknowledgement of “the failure of US policy,” the newspaper said.The editorial argued that the dispute demonstrated that US allies aren’t exempt from Washington’s use of tariffs.“Today it is Canada; tomorrow it could be the EU, and the day after, Japan or South Korea,” it said.Beijing has sought to cast its own retaliation against previous US tariffs as a matter of reciprocity and a defence of the international trading system.China and the US agreed to a trade truce after several rounds of negotiations, though tensions have persisted over technology and other economic restrictions.Relations between Beijing and Washington have nevertheless stabilised since 2025, with the US President Donald Trump visiting Beijing in May and the two sides agreeing to uphold a new form of relationship marked by “strategic stability.”Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to make his first state visit to the US in more than a decade in September.Ties between China and Canada have warmed since Prime Minister Mark Carney came to power.The two countries reached a wide-ranging agreement to lower trade barriers during Carney’s visit to China in 2026, in a break from alignment with Trump’s trade agenda.The engagement marks a sharp reversal from the freeze under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when disputes over trade, foreign interference and other matters drove relations to their lowest point in decades.The recent thaw has also raised the prospect of a reciprocal visit to Canada by Xi, according to Wu Xinbo, director of Fudan University’s Centre for American Studies and a former adviser to China’s Foreign Ministry.Wu said he was unaware of specific plans but expected either Xi or Premier Li Qiang to visit Canada “sometime this year or early next.”A visit to Ottawa by Foreign Minister Wang Yi would be one sign to watch, Wu said, adding that Xi was unlikely to combine a Canada trip with his planned visit to Washington in September. BLOOMBERG