Trump warned against use of tariffs as weapons

CHINA said tariffs should not be used as a weapon after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose more of them for China’s handling of the novel coronavirus.

Tariffs, in general, hurt all parties involved, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a daily briefing yesterday. “So the United States should stop thinking it can use tariffs as a weapon and a big stick to coerce other countries,” she said.

Trump said on Friday that raising tariffs on China was “certainly an option” as he considers ways to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States has had 1.2 million infections and more than 71,000 deaths.

Hua urged the United States not to try to divert attention from its own mismanagement of its coronavirus epidemic by shifting blame onto China.

“What has the US done in the past few months? How did it allow the outbreak to develop to the stage today? Is this how a government should be responsible to its people?” she asked.

“The most urgent task is to control the outbreak in the US and to save as many lives as possible ... Saving lives should take precedence over political self-interest,” she said.

Hua maintained how China had taken swift action such as notifying the World Health Organization and countries including the United States as early as January 3 about the coronavirus. She said accusations that China deliberately spread the virus were baseless. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, but Hua said he “doesn’t have any” evidence.

“This matter should be handed to scientists and medical professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political ends,” she said.

(Reuters)