China warns US not to open Pandora’s Box over trade

Beijing could target US goods including semiconductors

China warned the United States yesterday not to open Pandora’s Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe, even as Beijing pointed to US goods that it could target in a deepening Sino-US trade dispute.

China could target a broad range of US businesses from agriculture to aircraft, autos, semiconductors and even services if the trade conflict escalates, the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial yesterday.

President Donald Trump’s move last week to slap up to $60 billion (Dh220.35 billion) in tariffs on some Chinese imports has since provoked a warning from Beijing that it could retaliate with duties of up to $3 billion of US imports.

China’s biggest US imports are aircraft and related equipment, soybeans and autos, with the total bill about $40 billion last year.

“The malicious practices of the United States are like opening Pandora’s Box, and there is a danger of triggering a chain reaction that will spread the virus of trade protectionism across the globe,” a commerce ministry spokesman said.

The official line from China continues to be stern even as Beijing says it is all for dialogue and negotiations. The feedback from US and Chinese officials on the nature and extent of trade talks remains mixed, media reports show.

The Financial Times reported only on Monday that China had offered to buy more US microchips and move more quickly to finalise rules allowing foreign firms to take majority stakes in Chinese securities firms, citing people briefed on the negotiations. Chinese customs data shows the US accounted for just $2.6 billion, or 1 per cent, of China’s total semiconductor imports last year by value, with suppliers in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan commanding a bigger share.

But a source in the US semiconductor industry said US companies have slightly more than 50 per cent of China’s market for chips, though export data does not reflect that.