China to act on US trade protectionism

– China will actively take steps to safeguard its interests as well as those of its industries, Vice-Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said, in light of what he described as acts of trade protectionism on the part of the US.

The US decision to launch trade investigations is a unilateral act of protectionism, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement yesterday, citing a speech by Wang in New Delhi.

President Donald Trump is expected to unveil up to $60 billion in new tariffs on Chinese imports by tomorrow, targeting technology, telecommunications and intellec- tual property, two officials briefed on the matter said on Monday.

“Taking trade restrictive measures will not only impede normal international trade order but also cause serious damage to the multilateral trade system,” Wang said at a two-day World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting that ended on Tuesday.

Trump has accused the Chinese government of forcing US companies to transfer their intellectual property to China as a cost of doing business there.

Voicing hopes that Beijing and the US could avoid a trade war, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday China would open its economy further so foreign and Chinese firms could compete on an equal footing.

But one day later, Chinese tabloid Global Times said in an editorial that US subsidies for its soybean farmers have given them an unfair competitive advantage in selling to China and strong restrictive measures needed to be taken to prevent dumping.

While the widely read paper is run by the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily, its stance does not necessarily equate with Chinese government policy. –