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Beijing has strongly criticized the Trump administration for pushing tariffs on billions of dollars of imported goods from China but said it would fight to the end to protect its interests.
File photo of US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping
The Foreign Ministry on Friday said that it did not want a trade war with the US and that any such development would harm both countries, but vowed to retaliate on hundreds of US exports.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying warned that Washington should not underestimate Bejing’s resolve and its capability to punish the US for “its recklness and willfullness”.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum which would impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of goods imported from China.
Hua said that a trade war, though undesired, would not deter China from its progress and development.
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce said that Trump’s move was bringing Sino-US relations “to the edge of a precipice”.
It also said that it had drawn up a list of 128 US exports that it would target with 15-25 per cent retaliatory tariffs.
US media has speculated that China could also choose to impose tariffs on soybean imports from the US, which amount to about 30 million tons a year.
That’s a value of $10 billion that could be severely impacted if a trade war does erupt.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
