(OPINION) The Chinese have no intention of giving in to President Trump and are vowing to “fight to the end”.

So that means that an economic war between the number one economy on the entire planet and the number two economy on the entire planet is officially on.

Yesterday, I warned my readers that imports from China were about to be hit with a 104 percent tariff, but because this number had not been reported by the mainstream media yet a lot of people didn’t believe me.

Of course, this morning major news outlets all over the globe were using that number. Here is just one example…Trump merchandise

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that because China declined to lift its retaliatory tariff, the president’s additional 50% tariff levied on top of previously imposed tariffs of 20% and 34% took effect, bringing the total tariff on Chinese goods to 104%.

She added that the tariffs took effect at noon Eastern Time on Tuesday, with tariff collection set to begin on Wednesday. Leavitt said that U.S. trading partners should be coming to the administration with deals to improve trade terms.

“The president’s message has been simple and consistent from the beginning to countries around the world – bring us your best offers and he will listen,” Leavitt said during a White House press briefing Tuesday. “Deals will only be made if they benefit American workers and address our nation’s crippling trade deficits.”

Many were expecting the Chinese to back down, but that isn’t happening.

In fact, China’s Commerce Ministry has released a statement that ominously declares that they are ready to “fight to the end”…

China’s Commerce Ministry said it “resolutely opposes” U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of escalating tariffs, and vowed to take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.

The comments came after Trump said he would impose an additional 50% duty on U.S. imports from China on Wednesday, if Beijing does not withdraw the 34% tariff it imposed on American products last week.

“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake,” the statement said, according to a CNBC translation. “China will never accept it. If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”

I have a feeling that phrase comes from the very top, because a different Chinese spokesperson used almost the exact same language…

At a regular news conference on Tuesday, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Beijing would take “necessary measures” against U.S. tariff threats, according to a CNBC translation of reports in Chinese state media.

He reiterated the Commerce Ministry’s statement, “If U.S. insists on waging a tariff war, a trade war, China will fight till the end.”

What we are witnessing is a real life game of economic chicken.

So what happens if neither side blinks?

The truth is that we could soon have a real nightmare on our hands.

According to Bloomberg, “two influential state-linked Chinese bloggers” have published identical lists of “countermeasures” that the Chinese government is prepared to implement…

While China hasn’t said how it would respond if Trump follows through on his threat, two influential state-linked Chinese bloggers posted an identical set of countermeasures that they said authorities are considering.

They include raising tariffs on US farm products, a ban on Hollywood movies and investigating American firms’ intellectual property gains in the country.

Without a doubt, some of these “countermeasures” would definitely cause quite a bit of pain for our economy…

Suspending cooperation with the U.S. on fentanyl (which Beijing itself helped flood into American communities),

Jacking up tariffs on American farm goods like soybeans and sorghum,

Blocking U.S. poultry,

Clamping down on American service industries,

Investigating U.S. intellectual property in China,

And, of course, reducing/banning U.S. films.

In addition, the Chinese have already placed new restrictions on rare earth elements and have added more U.S. companies to the “unreliable entities list”.

On top of everything else, it appears that a major currency devaluation could be right around the corner… READ MORE