Beijing on Tuesday expressed its strong opposition to Washington's latest tariff hike on Chinese products and vowed to take “all necessary countermeasures” to defend its interests.
The latest tariffs come into effect from Tuesday, as Trump doubled tariffs on Chinese imports to the US.
“We urge the United States to immediately withdraw the unreasonable unilateral tariffs,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesman said”, adding “We should return to a path towards equal talks to resolve differences.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump had threatened to double the tariffs from 10 per cent to 20 per cent after alleging that China was not doing its part to prevent the fentanyl drug smuggling into the US mainland.
Besides China, the additional 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico have also come into effect from Tuesday.
While the Chinese government has demanded equal negotiations, the US has yet to respond to the issue.
Additionally, there has been no official confirmation of how China will react to the imposed trade tariffs, but the Ministry of Commerce warned it was willing to take “all necessary countermeasures” to defend China’s legitimate rights and interests.
Also read: Canada retaliates, Mexico prepares as Trump enforces tariffs
“China enforces one of the world’s strictest anti-drug policies and actively collaborates with countries, including the US, on international narcotics control,” the Ministry said.
“The tariffs are purely ‘shirking responsibility’ and will do little to resolve the US’ own issues, but will instead add to the burdens of American businesses and consumers and disrupt the stability of the global industrial chain,” it added.
China is the world’s biggest buyer of US agricultural products, primarily importing soybeans, beef and corn. Last year, it imported US$27.53 billion worth of US agricultural goods, witnessing a 16.3 per cent decline compared to the previous year.
The US, meanwhile, was China’s second-largest supplier of agricultural imports last year, holding a 12.8 per cent share.
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