Beijing (TDI): China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its rights and interests should the US escalate its tariff measures, Chinese commerce ministry said on Tuesday.
The comments were made by a spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce after Washington threatened to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports, which the spokesperson said China firmly opposes.
The United States’ so-called “reciprocal tariffs” against China are groundless and a typical practice of unilateral bullying, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the countermeasures Beijing has adopted are entirely legitimate actions aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as maintaining a normal world trade order.
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The US tariff escalation threat against China compounds its mistake and further exposes its nature of blackmail, which Beijing will never accept, said the spokesperson.
“China will fight till the end if Washington is bent on going down the wrong path,” the spokesperson noted.
Beijing reiterates that there is no winner in a trade war and protectionism leads nowhere, said the spokesperson, adding that pressuring and threatening are not the right way to engage with the nation.
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China urges the US to immediately correct its wrongdoings, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop its economic and trade suppression, and resolve differences with China properly through equal-footed negotiations on the basis of mutual respect, the spokesperson said.
