Faced with a wave of American sanctions, China prepares to retaliate

Days before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, China is preparing for an economic battle with the United States.

This threatened to open a full-scale investigation into American chipmakers. It focused on a US retailer, accusing it of “inappropriate conduct” that could lead to sanctions usually reserved for arms sellers. And he prepared to impose tariffs on imports of industrial plastics.

The wave of retaliatory measures, all taken this week, could have far-reaching consequences for American businesses. They join other measures taken by China in recent weeks with one goal: to warn the new Trump administration.

“This is a warning signal to the new administration that we will not stand idly by and that we also have leverage should the trade tech wars deepen,” said Myron Brilliant, senior advisor at Dentons Global Advisors-ASG, a law firm. business consultancy firm.

So far in the standoff between the world’s superpowers, Washington has set the tone by taking tough measures aimed at curbing China’s economic influence and stifling the development of industries that could give it a military advantage. .

In its final days, the Biden administration issued new rules to restrict China’s access to semiconductors and imposed sanctions on companies in the mining, real estate, solar energy and shipping sectors. Some observers have called it “China Sanctions Week.”