On the first day of October 2025, the spotlight of the world economic stage once again focused on the trade game between China and the United States. The Trump administration announced that it will implement a new round of high tariffs on various types of imported products from now on, among which patents and branded drugs will face a 100% tax rate, kitchen cabinets, bathroom sinks and related building materials will be subject to tariffs, imported furniture will be subject to a tariff rate of 30%, and all imported heavy trucks will be subject to a 25% tariff. This 55% average tariff level, which U.S. Trade Representative Greer called "good status quo", marks a new stage of Sino-U.S. trade friction that lasted for eight years.

The people¡¯s drug tanks and the walls of the property are ¡°blooded.¡±

The Trump administration¡¯s tariff policy this time is a ¡°precision strike¡± ¨C dedicated to selecting areas that are inseparable from the American people.In terms of drugs, 70% of the U.S. market is dependent on imports, and 95% of commonly used drugs such as Bluffen come from China.

A 100% tariff means pharmaceutical companies will either pass on costs to consumers or close down. Goldman Sachs predicts that by the end of October, the proportion of tariff costs borne by U.S. consumers will soar from 22% to 67%, and an average family may spend hundreds of dollars more each month on medicines.

What's even more ironic is that the U.S. government hasn't even let go of generic drugs, which account for 90% of the U.S. prescription drug market. This is to protect local industries, but it is clearly taking the health of ordinary people as a bargaining chip.

The real estate sector has not been spared. The United States imposes a 10% tariff on imported wood and a 25% tariff on building materials such as kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets. You know, 70% of the wood in newly built houses in the United States comes from Canada and China. With tariffs added, the cost of builders skyrocketed.

The American Chamber of Commerce has long warned that this will lead to higher house prices and higher unemployment in the construction industry. But the Trump administration turns a deaf ear, and as a result, American homebuyers have to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for an ordinary home, while construction workers may face a unemployment crisis.

"Waterloo" on the legal battlefield and the "thirty-six strategies" of enterprises

The Trump administration may not have expected that their tariff policy would fall into legal quagmire as soon as it was introduced. On August 29, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled by a 7 - 4 vote that most of the "reciprocal tariffs" Trump is proud of were illegal.

The court clearly pointed out that the International Emergency Economic Power Act did not give the president such a great power, and tariffs are the exclusive authority of Congress. This is not the first time that Trump has "excess power" on tariffs, and already in 2024, the U.S. court ruled that he imposed tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products was unlawful.

Faced with the high tariff pressure of the United States, Chinese enterprises have not sat down to wait. Huawei, ZTE and other tech giants have accelerated their layout in Southeast Asia, Latin America and other places, by establishing overseas production bases to avoid tariff risks.

What¡¯s more, some companies have begun to counteract with legal weapons. For example, when a medical device company responded to the U.S. 337 investigation, citing the Singapore Mediation Convention to reach a technology licensing agreement, both avoiding lengthy lawsuits and struggling for time for transformation. These ¡°regulatory restrictive rules¡± strategies have left the U.S. tariff giant part of its power.

The "general" on the rare earth chessboard and the "earthquake" in the global supply chain

In this tariff war, China's rare earth counter-measures can be called a "stroke of genius". In April 2025, China announced the implementation of export controls on seven types of medium and heavy rare earth-related items, directly hitting the "seven inches" of the United States. American military industrial enterprises are extremely dependent on rare earths. The engines of F-35 fighter jets and the electronic components of precision-guided weapons are inseparable from rare earths.

China controls 99% of the world's supply of heavy rare earths, and even if the rare earth mines in the United States are producing at full capacity, they can only meet a small part of the demand for light rare earths. What's even worse is that the United States relies almost entirely on China for rare earth processing technology. Even if it invests tens of billions of dollars to rebuild the supply chain, it will take several years.

The reaction of U.S. enterprises can be "black humor".U.S. rare-earth importers such as MP materials companies, in order to maintain their monopoly status, did collect evidence on their own expense, report to China the rare-earth smuggling route.Their logic is simple: if smuggling uranium, they accumulate high-priced rare-earth can not sell out.

As a result, the Chinese customs, according to the reports of these "indigenous ghosts", intercepted a large number of rare earth smuggling, including a batch of magnesium magnesium powder disguised as "tile leaf", enough to manufacture parts for 500 F-35 fighter jets.

Conclusion: There is no winner in the tariff war, cooperation is the right way

The Trump administration¡¯s tariff policy, which appears to be protecting U.S. interests, has actually left the U.S. economy wounded. Consumers have to pay for high-priced goods, have to break their headaches for the supply chain, and the government has to face legal challenges and international public opinion pressure.

China, on the other hand, has taken the lead in this game through precise countermeasures, legal games and rare-earth strategies.History has proven that trade protectionism only leads to two defeats and only cooperation can win-win.

Hopefully the Trump administration will soon wake up and return to the negotiating table to find a sustainable path for China-US economic and trade relations.

US President Trump orders tariffs on imported wood and cabinets from October 14

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