US ‘opening fire’ on world, says China
Trump’s tariffs go into effect today
BEIJING: The United States “is opening fire” on the world with its threatened tariffs, China warns, saying no one wants a trade war but it will respond the instant US measures go into effect as Beijing ramps up the rhetoric in the heated dispute.
The Trump administration’s tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports are due to go into effect today.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to escalate the trade conflict with tariffs on as much as $450 billion worth of Chinese goods if China retaliates, with the row roiling financial markets including stocks, currencies and the global trade of commodities from soybeans to coal.
China has said it will not “fire the first shot”, but its customs agency made clear yesterday that Chinese tariffs on US goods would take effect immediately after US duties on Chinese goods kick in.
Speaking at a weekly news conference, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng warned the proposed US tariffs would hit international supply chains, including foreign companies in the world’s secondlargest economy.
“If the US implements tariffs, they will actually be adding tariffs on companies from all countries, including Chinese and US companies,” he said.
“US measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it
simply, the US is opening fire on the entire world, including itself,” Gao said.
“China will not bow down in the face of threats and blackmail and will not falter from its determination to defend free trade and the multilateral system.”
Asked whether US companies would be targeted with “qualitative measures” in China in a trade war, Gao said the government would protect the legal rights of all foreign companies in the country.
“We will continue to assess the potential impact of the US-initiated trade war on companies and will help companies mitigate possible shocks.”
Foreign companies accounted for $20 billion, or 59%, of the $34 billion of exports from China that will be subject to new US tariffs, with US firms accounting for a significant part of that 59%, Gao said.
Speaking at a separate briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang sidestepped a question on whether there had been efforts to initiate new talks with the United States.
“We of course don’t want to fight a trade war, but if any country’s legitimate interests are harmed, then of course that country has the right to firmly protect their own interests,” he said.
The World Trade Organization warned on Wednesday that trade barriers being erected by major economies could jeopardise the global economic recovery, with their effects already starting to show.
“This continued escalation poses a serious threat to growth and recovery in all countries, and we are beginning to see this reflected in some forward-looking indicators,” WTO director-gGeneral Roberto Azevedo said in Geneva.
He did not elaborate, but in May the WTO’s quarterly trade outlook indicator suggested trade would grow slower in the second quarter than in the first.
Adding to the tensions, a Chinese court this week temporarily barred Micron Technology Inc from selling its main semiconductor products in the world’s biggest memory chip market, citing violation of patents held by Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp (UMC).
Both Chinese and US business sources in China said there appeared to be little hope that the tariffs could be averted.
“I’m afraid not, for now,” said Tu Xinquan, a trade expert at Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics, who has advised the Chinese government.
A US industry source said: “There is a 99% chance that tariffs go into force on Friday.”
“Frankly, I don’t know what action China could take at the moment that would allow the U.S. to not impose tariffs,” the US source said, adding that there was no evidence the two governments had any substantive engagement at the moment that could lead to the shelving of duties.
A Western diplomat told Reuters that there was no sign of any talks at the moment between the two countries.