Chinese officials declared on Sunday that they “firmly oppose” the new tariffs that US President Donald Trump has imposed on Beijing and that they will take “corresponding countermeasures to resolutely safeguard our own rights and interests.”
Trump placed a 10 percent duty on Chinese goods on top of the current charges, part of a sweeping announcement against major trading partners on Saturday.
China’s trade ministry said in a statement Sunday that Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it” and criticized Washington’s “erroneous practices.”
The ministry said Beijing would file a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization, arguing that “the unilateral imposition of tariffs by the United States seriously violates WTO rules”.
It added that the duties were “not only unhelpful in solving the US’s own problems, but also undermine normal economic and trade cooperation”.
“China hopes that the United States will objectively and rationally view and deal with its own issues like fentanyl, rather than threatening other countries with tariffs at every turn,” the ministry said.
It said Beijing “urges the US to correct its erroneous practices, meet China halfway, face up to its problems, have frank dialogues, strengthen cooperation and manage differences on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect”.
In a separate statement, China’s foreign ministry said “there are no winners in a trade war or tariff war”.
“The practice of imposing additional tariffs is not constructive and will inevitably affect and damage future bilateral cooperation on drug control,” a ministry spokesperson said.
