Beijing [China], October 12 (ANI): China has strongly condemned the United States’ latest tariff threat, calling it a display of “willful intimidation and double standards,” after Washington announced plans to impose a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese goods and export controls on all critical software from November 1, Global Times reported.
A spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday that “willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China,” stressing that Beijing does not seek a trade war but is “not afraid of it either.”
China urged the United States to “correct its wrong practices” and solve the differences through dialogue.
“Properly manage differences through dialogues and on the basis of mutual respect and equal-footed consultation, so as to ensure the stable, sound and sustainable development of the China-US economic and trade relationship,” the ministry said.
The sharp response came after US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his administration would impose sweeping new trade measures against China. The decision followed Beijing’s move a day earlier to tighten export controls on rare earth materials, vital to US industries, in what analysts see as a countermeasure to Washington’s escalating trade restrictions.
“In response to China’s export control on rare earths and related items, the United States will impose a tariff of 100 per cent on China, over and above any tariff that they are currently paying,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He added that the US would also impose “export controls on all critical software” starting November 1, accusing China of taking an “unprecedented and hostile” position in trade relations.
In its statement, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that the export control measures announced on October 9 were “normal actions taken by the Chinese government in accordance with laws and regulations to refine its export control system.”
“As a responsible major country, China firmly safeguards national and international security and implements export control measures in a prudential and moderate manner,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by Global Times.
The ministry criticised Washington’s reaction as hypocritical, saying that “the US remarks reflect typical double standards.” It noted that the United States has long “overstretched the concept of national security, abused export control, and imposed unilateral long-arm jurisdiction measures” affecting thousands of Chinese entities.
Beijing also pointed out that since the China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, Washington has imposed “a string of new restrictive measures” targeting Chinese industries.
“In just 20 days, the US has added multiple Chinese firms to the Entity List, expanded control over affiliates, and persisted with Section 301 measures on China’s maritime and shipbuilding sectors,” the ministry said, accusing Washington of “undermining the goodwill and atmosphere” of bilateral talks.
“The US actions have severely harmed China’s interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks, and China is resolutely opposed to them,” the spokesperson added. (ANI)