China said on Tuesday that it will take countermeasures to the United States President Donald Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports.
Trump said on Monday that the 10 per cent tariff will be implemented on September 24 and would rise to 25 per cent on January 1.
China’s Ministry of Commerce regretted the move, saying it disregarded “international and domestic trending opposition”.
“China will be forced to take synchronous countermeasures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests as well as the global free trade order,” the ministry’s spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson did not specify what these countermeasures would be but warned that the U.S.’ insistence on increasing tariffs brings new uncertainties for bilateral negotiations.
Beijing had earlier said it would impose tariffs on 60 billion dollars worth of U.S. imports if Washington imposes this latest round of import levies.
Trump warned yesterday that if China retaliates, he would “immediately pursue” tariffs on another 267 billion dollars of Chinese imports.
The latest U.S. tariffs follow mutual tariffs imposed by both sides on 50 billion dollars worth of imports from each other.
While the U.S. imported 500 billion worth of goods from China last year, China only imported 130 billion dollars worth American products.
This means that China’s countermeasures would likely be “qualitative” in nature, as suggested by the Chinese commerce ministry in June.
It remains unclear whether trade talks between the two countries will resume after the U.S. decision to again hike tariffs. The U.S. side last week invited Chinese officials to negotiations in Washington later this month.
