China warns of retaliation if US imposes new tariffs

China will take necessary countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with its tariff plans, the Ministry of Commerce warned yesterday.

The statement was made in response to the possible imposition of additional tariffs by the US on US$200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods.

The public comment period in the US for additional tariffs on the above-mentioned amount of Chinese imports ended recently, with the majority of participants opposed to the move.

“If the US side ignores the opposition of the majority of enterprises participating in the public comment, and goes its own way to impose additional tariffs on more Chinese imports, China will have to take necessary countermeasures,” Gao Feng, a spokesman for the commerce ministry, said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Reiterating that any attempts to pressure China are unreasonable and futile, Gao insisted that trade wars will not solve any problems. Equal and sincere dialogue and negotiations are the only correct ways to resolve China-US trade disputes.

Following the Trump administration’s announcement of a plan to impose additional tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports, China announced countermeasures on August 3 to impose additional tariffs on US imports of US$60 billion and released the list of the US products.

Gao suggested that over the past few months, the US has seriously violated World Trade Organization rules, incessantly introduced unilateral policies and caused continuous escalation of bilateral trade frictions, which not only damaged businesses and consumer interests in both countries, but also undermined the global industrial chain and value chain.

China will pay close attention to the impact caused by the additional tariffs and take effective measures to help Chinese and overseas enterprises operating in the country overcome difficulties, he added.

“China has the confidence, capability and measures to maintain the stable and healthy development of its economy.”