In the wake of the new Mexican tariffs, Chinese state-run media said the U.S. is "bullying others for its own interests" and will end up "alone" in the global trading system.
"Washington has also become more accustomed to abusing its super power status and bullying others for its own interests ... Living in a globalized world, every country needs to cooperate with others to survive and thrive. But no one wants a partner that is arrogant, domineering and capricious," state-run news agency Xinhua said on Friday in a commentary titled "Forcing 'America First' on others will lead to 'America Alone.'"
The piece followed President Donald Trump's threat Thursday night to slap a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports to protest illegal immigration. The move came as a surprise as the U.S. just signaled its action to kick-start approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Mexico had submitted.
The new Mexican tariffs could further inflame the U.S.-China trade fight as the move diminished Trump's reliability, which China has already been wary of.
The U.S. is "taking reckless step to isolate itself by waging a trade war against many of its major trading partners and trampling on the widely-accepted spirit of free trade and the existing global trading system. Global economic recovery, as a result, is at stake," the Xinhua commentary said.
"While on a world stage where there is few partners and followers, the country would end up like the lonely king in 'The Little Prince,'" it said.
The trade war between the U.S. and China heated up this month after both sides slapped higher tariffs on each other's goods. The two countries also ramped up threats amid the heightened trade tensions, with China reportedly stopping purchases of U.S. soybeans and vowing to cut off its supply of rare earth minerals. The U.S. blacklisted Chinese telecom giant Huawei, halting its ability to purchase American chips.
China said Friday that it will establish a list of unreliable entities of foreign companies and people that "seriously damage" the interests of domestic firms.
— Click here to read the original commentary from Xinhua.