China says no to U.S. trade war, but vows to defend interests

BEIJING » China said Sunday that it would not initiate a trade war with the United States, but vowed to defend its national interests in the face of growing American protectionism.

“There are no winners in a trade war, and it would bring disaster to our two countries as well as the rest of the world,” Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said at a briefing on the sidelines of China’s annual parliamentary session.

“China does not wish to fight a trade war, nor will China initiate a trade war, but we can handle any challenge and will resolutely defend the interests of our country and our people,” he said.

It was Beijing’s latest statement on “problems in SinoU.S. economic trade and cooperation,” alluding to President Donald Trump’s plan to impose heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Trump said Thursday that he was slapping tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, temporarily exempting big steel producers Canada and Mexico.

Chinese leaders have threatened in the past to retaliate against raised trade barriers, but have yet to take direct action following Trump’s announcement.

Citing Chinese researchers, Zhong said the U.S. has been overstating its trade deficit with China by about 20 percent every year. He gave no details on how this figure was reached, but the U.S. and Chinese governments generally report widely differing trade figures because Beijing counts only the first port to which goods go instead of their final destination.

The U.S. reported a $375 billion deficit with China last year, so a 20 percent reduction would still be among the largest trade gaps that it has with any country.

Zhong blamed the trade imbalance in part on controls over U.S. high-tech exports to China, repeating a Chinese claim that Washington could narrow its trade deficit if it allowed Beijing to buy more “dual use” technology such as supercomputers and advanced materials with military applications.