China retaliates in trade war against US

China today swiftly retaliated by imposing “equal” tariffs on US products following a decision by Donald Trump to slap duties on $50 billion (about R674 billion) of Chinese products.

“We will immediately launch tax measures of equal scale and equal strength,” the commerce ministry said in a statement on its web site which also called on other countries to “take collective action” against this “outdated and backwards behaviour”.

China would also negate agreements it had reached with the US during previous consultations over the penalties, it said.

The statement followed closely on the announcement that Trump would target $50 billion in Chinese imports with tariffs, making good on a pledge to punish the alleged theft of US intellectual property.

In a statement, he warned of “additional tariffs” should China hit back with tit-for-tat duties on American goods and services exports.

“Launching a trade war does not accord with global interests,” the Chinese commerce ministry said.

China’s President Xi Jinping pledged at the Boao Forum a ‘new phase of opening up’ the world’s number-two economy, easing concerns about a possible US trade war.

“China definitely does not want a trade war, but in the face of the US’s malicious, harmful and shortsighted conduct, China has to impose powerful countermeasures and resolutely defend the national interest and the people’s interests,” it said.

Trump’s announcement capped months of sometimes fraught shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Beijing, in which Chinese offers failed to assuage Trump’s grievances over the soaring US-China trade imbalance.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said today the United States would begin collecting duties on 818 Chinese imports valued at $34 billion as of July 6.

A second tranche of 284 goods valued at $16 billion – which would bring the total to $50 billion – will undergo an additional process of review and public comment, according to the trade representative’s office.

The Chinese commerce ministry did not provide details of how it planned to implement the new duties.

China previously issued a list of US products it would hit with tariffs in the event of a trade war, from big products like soybeans and beef to more niche items such as bourbon and ginseng.