Taipei, Taiwan— The decision by US President Donald Trump to impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods has elicited mixed reactions in Beijing, with the Chinese government threatening to implement countermeasures and some Chinese businesses expressing concerns about potential disruptions to their exports to the US market. While the Chinese Ministry of Commerce threatened to dispute the Trump administration’s move at the World Trade Organization, the Chinese foreign ministry highlighted that the trade and tariff battles “cannot solve the U.S. problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side.” Trump earlier stated that the extra tariffs on Chinese goods were Washington’s response to China’s role in producing precursor chemicals used for fentanyl synthesis in Mexico.

“Additional tariffs are not constructive and are bound to affect and harm counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future,” a Chinese foreign ministry official said in a statement released Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, some internet users warned the Trump administration’s decision will only backfire and harm American consumers’ interests, while others said Washington’s approach “lacks creativity.” “In the end, he only dares to add 10% tariffs [on Chinese goods] while imposing an additional 25% tariffs on goods from other countries,” commented a Chinese user named “Jixiang Wang-bao” on his Weibo blog. Despite the opposition displayed by some Chinese internet users, several Chinese exporters believe the extra taxes will still affect their firms

“The additional tariffs will essentially force my company to give up the U.S. market and shift its focus to other countries,” a Chinese consumer electronics exporter surnamed Lin told VOA in a written statement. He wanted to only be identified by his last name due to the sensitivity of the matter. Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run tabloid Global Times, said that while Chinese enterprises who export to the United States would face varied degrees of difficulty, the Chinese economy is capable of dealing with the impact of these new duties. “All parties in China have long anticipated this round of tariff hikes imposed by Trump and relevant businesses in China have made a lot of preparations,” he said in a post on Twitter adding that the Trump administration’s tariff war against China would ultimately harm American consumers and suppliers

Leave room for bargaining. While opinions disagree on how the extra tariffs will harm the Chinese economy, analysts believe the Trump administration’s decision to begin with a 10% duty on Chinese exports demonstrates Washington’s willingness to talk with Beijing. “The Trump administration may use the 10% tariff to pressure Beijing to reach agreements on some issues that are important to the US, such as the fentanyl crisis, and to demonstrate to the Chinese government that if China refuses to negotiate, the tariffs could be raised to 60%,” said Wu Se-chih, a Chinese politics expert at Taipei University of Marine Technology.