China called on the United States to immediately cancel its new duties and promised to take “tough countermeasures” to protect its own rights and interests.
The US move ignores the balance of interests achieved in multilateral trade negotiations over the years and the fact that it has long benefited greatly from international trade, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
“The so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ imposed by the US based on subjective and unilateral assessment are not in line with international trade rules, seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of relevant parties, and are a typical practice of unilateral intimidation … China urges the US to immediately lift its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equitable dialogue,” the ministry said.
US President Donald Trump on 2 April announced duties on goods from around the world to be imported into the United States.
The basic customs rate on imports of all foreign goods into the US will be 10 per cent. But it will be 20 per cent for the European Union, 34 per cent for China, 25 per cent for South Korea, 24 per cent for Japan and 26 per cent for India.
The International Monetary Fund said earlier that US President Donald Trump’s push for sweeping tariffs creates more uncertainty and undermines confidence, but is unlikely to trigger a recession in the near term.