When President Trump imposed tariffs in February, his decision was not received well by either the Chinese government or some in the Democrat party.

“This is not ‘America First,’” U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) wrote on X. “Tariffs are bad for business.”

“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” proclaimed China’s embassy to the United States, also on X.

Such rants, I suppose, should not be unexpected. Fortunately, they will not likely deter this President. Nor should they.

The Chinese Communist Party is challenging the United States on many fronts, including militarily in the Pacific Ocean over Taiwan and control of what should be international shipping lanes. Little known to many, however, is that the Chinese government is also waging another campaign – on energy, transportation and environmental fronts – to also weaken our nation.

This can be seen, for example, in China’s near-monopoly over the mining and processing of graphite, rare earth elements, cobalt, and other metals and minerals that are vital to our economic interests. It does this while still building 40-50 new coal-fired power plants annually for its own use.

China also recently blocked exports of rare earths that have US military and civilian applications. It signaled it would do the same for additional commodities in the event of future tensions or conflicts.

The CCP uses its monopolies, low-cost energy, cheap and slave labor, and minimal to nonexistent environmental, workplace safety and pollution control rules to underprice competitors for sales of metals and minerals, transformers, wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.

These hard realities should give President Trump all the authority he needs to advance tariffs.  But for those yet unconvinced, there’s still more reasons to be concerned.

Chinese companies have purchased thousands of acres of land near military bases, potentially enabling them to spy on those facilities. Other CCP actors, including students on American college campuses, have engaged in cyber theft of sensitive business, industrial, government, and defense data and information.

For decades, the CCP has been sending millions of dollars to U.S. universities and activist groups, to promote “green energy” – thereby spurring sales of Chinese wind, solar, battery and transformer equipment to America. It was a daring, devious, and all-too-successful tactic.

The Energy Foundation was launched in 1991 with grants from Pew, Rockefeller and MacArthur “charitable” foundations, which later established the Energy Foundation China, in Beijing. Today the China office is running the operation – calling itself simply the “Energy Foundation” and using the original US tax ID number, but with clear ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The metamorphosed entity has become primarily a “pass-through” organization, which can receive anonymous donations (“dark money”) from American, Chinese and other secretive donors – and quietly send funds to universities and activist organizations around the USA, to influence policies, regulations, legislation and subsidies.

Its success can be measured by how thoroughly “climate alarmist” ideologies infected the Biden White House and Democrat Party. They helped advance programs to frighten people about “climate cataclysms,” eliminate fossil fuels, ban gas stoves and furnaces, and to transform US and Western economies to wind and solar power and electric vehicles – policies which weakened the American economy but advanced Chinese business interests.

Infinitely more alarming, however, is what former FBI Director Christopher Wray told “60 Minutes” in January: The Chinese government and military have “pre-positioned themselves” and inserted backdoor portals into nearly the entire critical American civilian infrastructure!

They are now able to simply “lie in wait on those networks,” ready at a moment’s notice to “wreak havoc” and “inflict real-world harm at a time and place of their choosing.” While Mr. Wray’s FBI was targeting people praying at abortion clinics and speaking up at school board meetings, the Chinese were setting themselves up to attack America’s “water treatment plants, transportation systems, energy sector, electric grid, natural gas pipelines,” major and neighborhood transformers, and other facilities.

Imagine the horrific implications. Amid roiling tensions or an actual war, China could render our water unsafe to drink, shut down our gas pipelines and electricity grid, disrupt subways and traffic lights, commandeer vehicles, interrupt food shipments – or merely threaten to do so … or hit just one city to give us a taste of what they are capable of.

Millions of lives would be at risk, and we could be powerless to stop them.

Little of this is new news. But the previous administration and Congress – like the electric utility, water and transportation sectors – have been grossly inadequate in their responses to the growing crisis.

Fortunately, times have changed.  While the tariffs may not impact these matters directly, they do send a message to the Chinese that the new sheriff in town is keeping an eye on them.  They best tread lightly.

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Craig Rucker is president of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org)