JD Vance’s ‘Chinese peasant’ remarks ‘ignorant,’ officials say amid tariff war – National
Officials in China are responding to U.S. Vice-President JD Vance after he referred to the country’s people as “peasants” while defending Trump’s tariffs during an interview with Fox News last week.
Vance queried the benefits of the U.S. operating in a global economy, saying it led to debt and the costly purchasing of goods produced abroad.
“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” he said.
“That is not a recipe for economic prosperity, it’s not a recipe for low prices, and it’s not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America,” Vance added.
He also doubled down on the Trump administration’s campaign promise to repurpose the American economy, citing a decline in U.S manufacturing, the cost of homes, and inflation as justification for the striking shifts in its fiscal policy.
Responding to the vice-president’s remarks on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice-president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.”
“Pressure, threats, and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China,” he added.
According to CNN, people across China have been echoing the sentiment of the spokesman.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
One Weibo user wrote, “We may be peasants, but we have the world’s best high-speed rail system, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI, autonomous driving, and drone technologies. Aren’t such peasants quite impressive?”
China’s rebuttal comes amid an escalation in Trump’s widespread trade war waged against storied U.S. allies, including Canada, much of Europe, and Mexico.
Last week, the president announced a 34 per cent tariff on Chinese imports in addition to a previously-applied 20 per cent tax in response to fentanyl trafficking.
China responded with retaliatory charges, slapping 34 per cent levies on U.S. imports and restrictions on earth minerals.
On Monday, Trump threatened to implement 50 per cent tariffs on China if it did not backtrack on its response.
“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already longterm trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose additional tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
In response to his latest threat, Chinese authorities vowed on Tuesday to “fight to the end” and to implement countermeasures against the U.S. to protect Chinese interests.
The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Trump administration announced 104 per cent tariffs on China after it failed to meet the president’s Tuesday deadline to lift retaliatory measures on U.S. goods.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
