China ready to defend interests as trade row with US escalates
Amid an escalating war of words with the US, China says it has “already prepared” to defend its national interests in the face of US attacks on bilateral trade ties.
Chinese vice Premier Liu told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a telephone call on Saturday that President Donald Trump’s order to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of Chinese goods violates international trade rules, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
“China has already prepared, and has the strength, to defend its national interests,” Liu said, adding that China hopes “both sides will remain rational and work together.”
The call between the two top economic officials was the highest-level contact between Beijing and Washington since Trump unveiled the new pack of anti-China sanctions.
China responded to Trump’s tariffs with declaring on Friday plans to raise tariffs on a $3 billion list of US goods. Beijing also warned Washington that it is not “afraid of a trade war.”
Washington is concerned at what it claims to be the misappropriation of intellectual property following an eight-month investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 US.
The Chinese official further told the US side that Washington has violated trade rules with that inquiry.
In a highly controversial plan earlier this month, Trump announced hefty tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum of a lot of countries, many of them key US allies.
He signed paperwork enacting tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum during a ceremony at the White House. The plan took effect on Friday.
The move sent shivers through financial markets, caused legal disputes and raised fears that the confrontation could provoke a damaging trade war.
World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo also warned that new trade barriers would “jeopardize the global economy.”
Trump, however, defended his decision while speaking to reporters on Friday, saying his efforts were beginning to bear fruit.
The administration said it will temporarily exempt Europe as well as countries including Brazil, Argentina, South Korea and Australia from the steep new steel and aluminum tariffs.
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