China’s People’s daily newspaper laid out three countermeasures that may be adopted by the Communist Party government in response to recent trade restrictions imposed and investigations being conducted by the Trump administration in the United States. After criticizing China’s massive trade surplus with the United States throughout the campaign, President Donald Trump and his administration have started tightening screws on China. The United States has initiated an investigation into China’s IP practices and alleged theft of United States’ intellectual properties. In addition to that, the U.S. commerce department has imposed countervailing duties ranging from 16-81 percent on imports of aluminum foil from China.

According to People’s daily, which is the biggest newspaper group in China and is an official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party,

• China is basically focusing three countermeasures; limiting exports from the United States, limiting imports to the United States and unloading dollar assets.
• With reference to US exports, the report said, “Statistics show that the annual growth in exports from the U.S. to China averaged 11% in the past decade, almost twice the figure of Chinese exports to the U.S. Sixty-two percent of soybean, 14% of cotton, 25% of Boeing aircraft, 17% of automobiles, and 15% of integrated circuits produced by the U.S. have been shipped to China. In addition, China is the second-largest export market of American agricultural products, buying 15% of the total export volume, according to U.S. government data.”
• The report suggest that the second tool that is limiting imports could lead to significant cost rise for the American households. “According to data released by the US-China Business Council, trade with China has saved American families $850 in 2015 on average. Oxford Economics estimates that China's low-price goods have resulted in a 1-1.5% lower price level in the U.S.”
• The report notes that in June, China once again became United States’ largest creditor and large offloading of U.S. assets could hurt American financial stability.

However, the report also notes that these measures would hurt China too and Chinese officials have stressed that there would be no winner or future in a trade war.