AT a time of great economic strife across the global community – triggered largely by President Donald Trump’s aggressive approach to foreign policy – too many nations are reeling from the weaponisation of tariffs as a diplomatic tool.
Presiding over the world’s largest economy and unparalleled military might that borders on omnipotence, President Trump’s imposition of virtually indiscriminate tariffs has caused untold misery and enormous uncertainty among both developed and developing economies.
While the West remains understandably embarrassed by Washington’s punitive measures after decades of sustained diplomatic cooperation, the struggling nations of the Global South are hardest hit by Trump’s sharpest weapon: tariffs.
During his election campaign leading up to his resounding victory in last November’s US elections, Trump told one Republican rally after another: “Tariffs is my most favorite word in the dictionary.”
Love him or loathe him, Trump does walk the talk, and he does it with unmistakable consistency. With him, what you see is what you get.
In the midst of what can only be described as Trump’s brutal contribution to the punitive impoverishment of struggling economies in poorer nations, there has thankfully been the emergence of a silver lining from the East.
It has come in the form of Beijing. China, responding to the collective cries of Africa’s perennially struggling economies, has announced zero-tariff treatment for all 53 African countries that have diplomatic relationships with the Asian powerhouse. China’s economy is officially the world’s second largest after that of the US, although there is a strong school of thought that China’s economy is either neck-and-neck with Washington’s or slightly ahead. The announcement by President Xi Jinping’s administration is music to the ears of Africa as a whole.
The zero-tariff development is the consequence of the Chinese government’s new “All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era.”
It follows the 2024 Beijing Summit’s resolution contained in the declaration by all leaders who attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Earlier this month, the China-Africa Changsha Declaration on Upholding Solidarity and Cooperation of the Global South underscored Beijing’s determination to bring the continent along on China’s rapid rise toward the status of the world’s leading economy.
Solidarity with Africa goes back many decades to when Chairman Mao trained the liberation forces of Africa during the liberation struggle. China prides itself on the fact that it has no history of ever colonising any nation. Instead, China, like almost the rest of Africa, was once colonised by France. This factor alone serves as one of the many fundamental similarities between China and Africa. Hence, the sense of solidarity has developed from political to include economic and diplomatic dimensions. The bond that binds China and Africa together is therefore too strong to break.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an economic development program that aims to lift the African continent out of hardship through mutually beneficial economic cooperation, continues to serve as a catalyst in diplomatic relations.
The Changsha Declaration, for example, spells it all out unambiguously. It reads, in part: “We, the representatives of the People’s Republic of China, 53 African countries and the African Union Commission, guided by the consensus reached by our leaders during the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), gathered in Changsha to advance the full implementation of the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era.”
It continues: “We agree that the rise and growth of the Global South represents the trend of the times and the future of development. China and Africa are both important members of the staunch forces in the Global South.”
That, in a nutshell, sums up China’s intentional program to alleviate the plight of a continent rich in natural mineral wealth but one that continues to be destabilised by external forces aligned with former Western colonial rulers.
As the Trump administration remains blind to history and wields an uncompromising stick against Africa, history will surely look kindly on President Xi’s modern China as an example of shared development based on mutual respect among allies.
Over the past decade or so, China has successfully lifted more than 850 million people out of poverty in a nation of some 1.45 billion people. The UN has gone on record to praise China for achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule in terms of poverty eradication. The zero-tariff approach places China at the heart of humane concern for mankind. Africa need not deteriorate into abject poverty when it produces minerals that illegally find their way to European capitals with no consequences.
President Trump is acutely aware of the ruthless nature of his imposition of tariffs on poor countries. Paraphrased, tariffs translate into astronomical import and export duties on goods and services. This means that economically struggling countries of the Global South will struggle to access US markets due to high tariffs. Conversely, the US can comfortably afford goods and services from lesser economies due to the superior strength of the dollar.
China, to the credit of President Xi and the Communist Party of China, has resolved not to leave behind allies who are struggling and vulnerable, especially toward Washington’s unscrupulous economic policies.
The solidarity China is leading in forming across the Majority World is indeed a welcome development. It shows that China has recognised the responsibility on Beijing’s shoulders as a caring major power to share growth with the hardest-hit economies in a world characterised by sectarian interests, growing unilateralism, and the collapse of the global governance system. With evidence mounting about the rapidly declining regard for international law, China is taking the lead in the reconfiguration of international relations in a conflict-riddled world.
As someone once said, “Poison in the hands of the wise can turn to medicine, just like medicine in the hands of a fool can turn to poison.”
Makoe is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief: Global South Media Network (www.gsmn.co.za)
