China ‘firmly opposes’ u s tariffs pledges retaliation

China ‘firmly opposes’ u s tariffs pledges retaliation

China on Thursday said it “firmly opposes” sweeping new U.S. tariffs on its exports, vowing “countermeasures” to protect its rights and interests.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ignited a potentially ruinous global trade war after imposing 10% levies on imports from around the world and harsh extra duties on key trading partners.

Mr. Trump unveiled particularly stinging tariffs of 34% on China, one of its largest trading partners.

The Commerce Ministry in Beijing said in a statement that those tariffs “do not comply with international trade rules and seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant parties”. It urged Washington to “immediately cancel” them, warning they “endanger global economic development”, hurting U.S. interests and international supply chains.

It also accused the United States of a “typical unilateral bullying practice”.

The tariffs come on top of a 20% rate imposed last month.

At a weekly briefing on Thursday, the Commerce Ministry slammed Washington’s “protectionism and bullying”. But it also said that the two sides were “maintaining communication” over sources of contention in trade and economic issues.

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry also warned the United States that protectionism has no “exit ramp” and noted the broad international opposition to the measures. China previously responded to U.S. tariffs with levies of up to 15% on a range of U.S. agricultural goods including soybeans, pork and chicken.

U.S. duties have threatened to harm China’s fragile economic recovery as it struggles with a long-running debt crisis in the property sector and persistently low consumption.

Mr. Trump labelled Wednesday’s measures “reciprocal” but many experts say his administration’s estimates are wildly exaggerated.

“This approach disregards the balance of interests achieved through years of multilateral trade negotiations and ignores the fact that the U.S. has long profited from international trade,” it added.