China vows ‘countermeasures’ as US prepares new tariffs

China says it would have no choice but to take “the necessary countermeasures” against the United States, which is ramping up a trade dispute with Beijing by preparing another round of tariffs on Chinese goods worth 200 billion dollars.

China’s Commerce Ministry said in a brief statement on Wednesday that it “solemnly protests” the latest tariff list published by the US, calling it “totally unacceptable.”

“The Chinese government as always will have no choice but to take the necessary countermeasures,” said the statement, without elaborating.

Taking the war ‘to another level’

China’s Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang said earlier that the US measures would not only hurt the interests of China and the rest of the world but would harm America’s own interests as well.

“It looks like the US just took the scale of the trade frictions to another level,” Li said at a forum in Beijing. “Right now, world trade is relatively chaotic. We believe the US measures interfere with economic globalization and [further] damage the world economic order.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that it would slap 10-percent tariffs on an extra 200 billion dollars’ worth of Chinese imports.

It released a list of thousands of Chinese imports — including food products, chemicals, coal, steel, and aluminum — that would be targeted by the planned tariffs.

Products ranging from car tires, handbags, suitcases, to dog and cat food, baseball gloves, carpets, doors, bicycles, skis, golf bags, toilet paper, and hundreds of food and beauty products are also included.

In an attempt to justify the unusually high tariffs, the US has accused China of undertaking “unfair practices” in trade.

“For over a year, the Trump administration has patiently urged China to stop its unfair practices, open its market, and engage in true market competition,” said US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

“Rather than address our legitimate concerns, China has begun to retaliate against US products... There is no justification for such action,” he said brazenly in announcing the proposed tariffs.

Trump has accused Beijing of intellectual property theft, obstructing US businesses, and being responsible for America’s 375-billion-dollar trade deficit with China.

But Trump has also waged trade wars with the US’s natural allies Europe and Canada. He has already started charging levies on the imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union, Mexico, and Canada.

China has imposed tariffs on US cars and major agricultural goods, such as soybeans and meat, in response to the previous rounds of the US measures.

Washington’s latest proposal would be the third wave of tariffs against Chinese goods and will go into effect sometime after August 30.

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