Beijing Warns Against U.S. Trade Deals That Harm Chinese Interests

[oil&gas]

Apr 21, 2025

The U.S.-China trade war took another turn toward escalation on Monday as China threatened to retaliate against countries which make trade deals with the United States that would hurt Beijing’s interests.

“Appeasement cannot bring peace, and compromise cannot earn one respect,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Monday.

“China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests. If this happens, China will never accept it and will resolutely take countermeasures,” the world’s second-largest economy said.

Since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, the United States and China have been on a collision course in trade.

The U.S. Administration, which has halted until July tariffs on other countries except China, is reportedly planning to use bilateral trade and tariff talks to have them limit their trade and deals with China, The Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing sources familiar with the ongoing negotiations.

According to the Journal’s report, the Trump Administration is seeking to have countries commit to limiting their trade with China and isolate the world’s second-largest economy in exchange for tariff relief.

China now vows retaliation against countries that cave to U.S. pressure to seek to isolate Beijing.

“The United States has abused tariffs on all its trading partners under the banner of so-called "reciprocity", while at the same time forcing all parties to start so-called "reciprocal tariff negotiations" with it,” the spokesperson for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said today.

China blamed the U.S. for what it described as “unilateral bullying in the economic and trade fields under the guise of ‘reciprocity’”.

“Once international trade returns to the "law of the jungle" where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims,” China said.

The U.S.-China trade war and concerns about global economic growth and a possible recession in the world’s top oil consumer, the United States, resurfaced early on Monday and dragged oil prices down by 2% at Asian trade open.

Beijing Warns Against U.S. Trade Deals That Harm Chinese Interests | OilPrice.com

China has threatened to retaliate against countries that make trade deals with the United States that harm Beijing's interests.

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[oil&gas]

China Axes Imports of Most U.S. Commodities in Escalating Trade War

Apr 21, 2025

• China's LNG imports from the U.S. fell to zero in March.
• Imports of other U.S. commodities, including wheat and cotton, also saw significant declines.
• The reductions are attributed to escalating trade and tariff tensions between the U.S. and China.

China slashed its imports of many U.S. energy and agricultural commodities in March amid intensifying trade and tariff tensions with the United States, which are set to further reduce Chinese purchases of American goods this month and in the coming months.

China’s LNG imports from the United States crashed to zero in March as China slapped tariffs on American LNG and other energy products, making these uneconomical for Chinese buyers.

Last year, U.S. LNG represented about 5% of China’s imports of the super-chilled fuel.

Similarly to non-existent LNG, China did not import any wheat from the U.S. in March, per Chinese customs data cited by Bloomberg on Monday.

Chinese cotton imports from the United States plummeted by 90% in March from a year earlier, which purchases of U.S. corn slumped to a five-year low, according to the data.

Among agricultural products, soybean imports into China from the U.S. rose to buck the general trend, as Chinese buyers typically import soybeans from the United States early in the year until the South American harvest becomes available in the autumn, or in the springtime in the northern hemisphere.

Among energy products, imports of U.S. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) declined by 36%, and purchases of metallurgical coal used in steelmaking plunged by 62% in March from a year earlier, per the Chinese customs data cited by Bloomberg.

Chinese crude oil purchases, on the other hand, rose by 25%, amid higher overall crude imports into China.

Many U.S. cargoes may have also been contracted before the tariff war erupted and right after the uncertainties about Russian supply in January, following the U.S. sanctions on Russian trade. These sanctions, one of the Biden Administration’s last sanctions moves, roiled the oil market flows for several weeks until the supply chain of non-sanctioned tankers reshuffled to service mostly China.

China Axes Imports of Most U.S. Commodities in Escalating Trade War | OilPrice.com

China significantly reduced its imports of U.S. energy and agricultural commodities in March, as trade and tariff tensions between the two nations intensify.

oilprice.com