But it can certainly win a trade war. It appears the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman hasn’t done the relevant math.
AFP: US President Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News said he would prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China, but that tariffs were a tremendous power over China. Does the Foreign Ministry have a comment on this?
Mao Ning: We made clear our position on this issue more than once. Trade and economic cooperation between China and the US is mutually beneficial. Differences and frictions need to be handled through dialogue and consultation. Trade and tariff wars have no winners and are in the interest of no one, still less the world.
The annual US trade deficit with China for 2024 was $270.4 billion. US GDP for 2023 was $27.7 trillion. An end to all trade with China would cause the US economy to grow at least 1 percent, to $28 trillion. When the (X-M) component of GDP is negative, the more obstacles to trade, the more the economy grows.