China is trying to project two messages at once: don’t escalate, and don’t mistake restraint for weakness.
On Tuesday, Beijing said it is closely watching Washington’s latest tariff moves and will decide “in due course” whether to adjust its own countermeasures. At the same time, Chinese officials said they are willing to hold frank consultations in an upcoming sixth round of U.S.-China economic and trade talks.
That combination—open to talks, noncommittal on retaliation—is a classic signal that China wants room to negotiate without giving up leverage.
Why this happened now
The timing matters.
This comes after President Donald Trump said he would impose a new temporary tariff on imports from all countries, first at 10% and then later saying he would raise it to 15% under Section 122 of the Trade Act.
That announcement followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down tariffs previously imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In other words, Washington lost one legal route and immediately moved to another.
From Beijing’s perspective, the legal mechanism changed—but the pressure campaign did not.
China’s message: stop unilateral tariffs
China’s commerce ministry urged the U.S. to cancel unilateral tariffs and avoid imposing more. That language is not new, but the tone is important: Beijing is trying to frame itself as the side calling for stability while leaving open the option to respond later.
And it still has tools.
China has previously hit U.S. goods with retaliatory tariffs, including pressure on agriculture and energy, and it has also used its influence over rare earth and critical mineral exports as leverage. Many of those countermeasures were suspended after a trade truce reached last November, but they remain part of the strategic backdrop.
What’s still on the books
Even with the Supreme Court ruling and the new temporary tariff plan, the tariff picture remains complicated.
Some U.S. duties on Chinese goods tied to older trade and national-security authorities—such as Section 301 and Section 232 measures—still remain in place. So this is not a reset. It’s an additional layer in an already crowded tariff regime.
That’s what makes the current moment so tricky for businesses: one set of tariffs is challenged, another is introduced, and the legacy tariffs never really went away.
Why Beijing is waiting before retaliating
China’s decision not to immediately announce a counterstrike likely reflects three practical calculations:
- Negotiation leverage: keeping options open ahead of the next trade talks
- Policy flexibility: avoiding a rushed response to a tariff move that may face political or legal limits
- Diplomatic optics: appearing measured while the U.S. is seen as escalating
It also helps that a high-profile meeting could be on the horizon, with Trump expected to travel to China in late March for talks with President Xi Jinping.
That gives both sides an incentive to avoid a full-blown trade rupture before the cameras come out.
The bigger takeaway
This is what modern U.S.-China trade conflict looks like now: not one giant tariff shock, but a rolling series of legal pivots, temporary measures, suspended retaliation, and “talks” that happen while both sides keep sharpening tools behind the scenes.
China’s current posture is cautious but strategic:
- publicly oppose the tariffs,
- stay open to talks,
- and hold back immediate retaliation until it sees whether Washington’s latest move sticks.
Bottom line
Beijing is signaling that it wants a negotiating channel open—but it is not giving Washington a free pass. The “in due course” language is doing a lot of work: it means China is not backing down, just choosing its timing.
