Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said his nation is “not afraid”, in his first public comment on the escalating trade war with the US that has tanked international markets and fueled fears of a global recession.
“There are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation,” Xi told Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing on Friday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“For over 70 years, China’s development has relied on self-reliance and hard work — never on handouts from others, and it is not afraid of any unjust suppression,” Xi said.
“Regardless of how the external environment changes, China will remain confident, stay focused, and concentrate on managing its own affairs well.”
Beijing’s move is a response to the 125% duties announced by the White House earlier this week
China will raise tariffs on American goods coming into the country from 84% to 125%, officials in Beijing have said. There will be no further hikes of import duties no matter what Washington does next, they added.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump raised the tariffs on Chinese products to 125% in response to measures Beijing had imposed over Washington’s previous protectionist economic moves.
Trump stressed that the increased duties are intended to make China realize that “ripping off the USA and other countries is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
The Customs Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council said in a statement on Friday that tariffs on US goods will be raised for the last time, to 125%, starting from Saturday in response to the duties announced by Trump.
“In view of the fact that under the current tariff level, there is no possibility of market acceptance of US goods exported to China, if the US side continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US in the future, the Chinese side will ignore it,” the statement read.
The commission also slammed Trump’s “abnormally high tariffs” on Chinese products as “unilateral bullying and coercion.” The move by the US president represented “a serious violation of international economic and trade rules, as well as of basic economic laws and common sense,” it stressed.
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After Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs caused a sharp drop in US stock prices last week, he declared a 90-day pause on reciprocal duties for US trading partners, lowering them to a 10% baseline.
China became one of the few exceptions, and instead saw tariffs against it increased even further. According White House officials cited by the media, the 25% duties will also remain in place for car manufacturers and steel and aluminum producers in Mexico and Canada.
Beijing appeared to indicate that it wouldn’t increase its tariffs on US goods beyond the 125%, according to a statement from a Commerce Ministry spokesperson.
“The successive imposition of excessively high tariffs on China by the US has become nothing more than a numbers game, with no real economic significance. It merely further exposes the US practice of weaponizing tariffs as a tool of bullying and coercion, turning itself into a joke,” the spokesperson said.
“If the US insists on continuing this numbers game with tariffs, China will not engage. However, if the US persists in substantively harming China’s interests, China will resolutely take countermeasures and fight to the end.”
Credit: CNN, RT
