US president’s latest proposal of 100 percent levy on Chinese goods reflects repeated misjudgment
United States President Donald Trump’s renewed proposal to impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods reflects a repeated misjudgment of global economics. It assumes that unilateral measures can weaken China’s technology development and economic strength. Yet each trade or tech restriction directed at China has functioned as a catalyst for technological renewal.
Instead of suppressing innovation, these restrictive measures have accelerated it. The attempt to curb China’s technology development has paradoxically reinforced self-reliance in science and technology, propelling a transformation deeper and stronger.
Industrial history unfolds through four significant transitions — mechanization, electrification, automation, and intelligent transformation.
The first substitution of physical labor with steam-powered machinery occurred during mechanization. The second introduced electricity, bringing mass production and urban illumination. The third created automated systems that replaced repetitive work with mechanical precision. The fourth, now led by artificial intelligence (AI), integrates cognition with production, enabling systems that learn and adapt.
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China’s rise belongs squarely to this latest transformation. Confronted with foreign restrictions, the Chinese economy has drawn strength from the challenge. Obstruction has become stimulus, shaping a new era of innovation.
The US pursuit of AI reflects a distinctly different philosophy. Silicon Valley focuses much of its energy on creating artificial general intelligence, a theoretical construct intended to mirror the human mind. Such innovation dazzles in imagination but stands detached from the material conditions of productive life.
By contrast, China’s approach treats AI as an instrument to serve and improve reality rather than to imitate it.
Chinese technology centers on embedding learning algorithms in manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, and healthcare. AI operates as a utility that strengthens systems rather than competes with them. China transforms technological imagination into infrastructure, aligning cognitive power with practical outcomes.
This also explains China’s composure in the face of US economic provocation. When the suggestion of a 100-percent tariff triggered volatility in global financial markets, China responded calmly and moderately. The logic is consistent: Ev ery external pressure sharpens internal capacity.
The experience of past curbs or “sanctions” proved this principle. When the US blockaded high-end chips from reaching Chinese tech giant Huawei, the result was the birth of the Kirin processor and the Harmony operating system. Each constraint produced an invention or a tech breakthrough. A tariff meant to damage trade would quicken the domestication of supply chains and the localization of high-technology industries.
China’s open attitude toward intellectual collaboration further deepens this contrast. In the US model, technology often remains enclosed within patents and licenses, monetized through exclusivity. China instead chooses transparency through open-source publication. Firms disseminate their foundational code and models for global participation. The spreading of knowledge, rather than its restriction, becomes the trustworthy source of influence.
The statistical evidence of this evolution is remarkable. China now installs more industrial robots each year than the rest of the world combined, indicating a decisive move from mechanical automation to intelligent integration. Domestic providers have surpassed foreign brands for the first time, demonstrating a comprehensive command over both software and hardware.
These achievements are not the result of isolation but the consequence of systematic investment in essential technologies under external pressure. Trade barriers that once appeared threatening have become incentives for China to innovate, reinforcing industrial confidence and policy continuity.
Hence, Washington’s tariff and tech-curb strategies misunderstand the present reality of industrial and technological competition. The administration seeks to govern technological advancement through economic coercion, ignoring the fact that intelligence flows freely across borders of policy. Ideas cannot be taxed. Knowledge resists containment.
The moment one nation attempts to deny access, another develops an alternative that expands the field altogether. The resulting innovation is not only sustainable but autonomous. As the US authorities indulge in protectionism, China continues to reconfigure production through its broad intelligence strategy, thereby transcending the restrictions placed upon it.
By strengthening open collaboration and applied research, China cultivates an atmosphere where invention becomes both a national and a human achievement.
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If the global community observes this dynamic without prejudice, it will recognize that China’s technological progression offers a constructive alternative to the zero-sum thinking dominating Western political discourse. Genuine global leadership in the new age of intelligence will belong not to those who threaten others with tariffs, but to those who channel creativity into shared prosperity.
The ultimate irony of the US approach is that every attempt to hinder China’s progress confirms the strength it seeks to diminish. Each “sanction” becomes a lesson in self-reliance, each tariff a mark of unintended encouragement.
Through determination, openness, and pragmatic wisdom, China continues to convert adversity into opportunities, demonstrating that innovation, once rooted in purpose and community, is the most resilient force in modern civilization.
The author is a solicitor, a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area lawyer, and a China-appointed attesting officer.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
