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China ‘not afraid’ of a trade war, threatens United States with tariffs

He added that that the government has had no communication with the USA on the issue as it is a unilateral action not covered under WTO rules.

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“Even without the tariffs, with such low prices, we will use more domestic pork for our Chinese business”, said Luis Chein, a company director at WH Group, China’s top pork producer and its biggest importer of USA pork.

The Commerce Ministry said the higher USA tariffs “seriously undermine” the global trading system.

“It is just unbelievable. I have tremendous respect for President Xi”, Trump said.

Thursday, President Donald Trump has ordered more tariffs, specifically on Chinese goods.

“The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to resolve the concerns of the Chinese side as soon as possible”, it said. “We have spoken to China and we are in the middle of negotiations”.

That measure had not targeted Chinese imports alone.

“What you’re probably going to get from the Chinese is a low-key response to try to negotiate their way out of it”, Manning said. Most traditional industry stocks fell by less than 1 percent. “The United States can not easily find ideal alternatives in a short time”, he said.

US officials say they will try to minimize the impact for American shoppers by mostly targeting products that business buys like computers, IT products, industrial machinery and aircraft parts. China’s trade surplus with the U.S. rose 8% to a record $375.2 billion previous year, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data.

Why has the U.S. made a decision to impose these economic tariffs on China?

However, such an aggressive move from the USA could well backfire should talks break down or fail to materialize altogether. It rejected Trump’s contention they are needed to protect US national security.

A tit-for-tat escalation of trade retaliation, coupled with Trump’s desire to “look tough on China” will make it harder for the two sides to settle their differences, said Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University and a former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China department.

So it’s no surprise China is “fully prepared to defend” itself and retaliate with tariffs on USA goods.

US wine exports to China previous year were $79 million, according to the US Wine Institute, which represents Californian wine makers.

That, of course, is bad news for American businesses that export goods to China.

“Therefore, U.S. retailers and customers will be victims of the tariff plan”, said Lin.

Trump has repeatedly accused Beijing of unfair trade practices like currency manipulation – which helps China make its exports more affordable – and of stealing United States intellectual property.

The memorandum is based on the Section 301 investigation into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017. “It is a typical unilateral and protectionist practice”, said a spokesperson with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Policy makers across the world are warning of a brewing trade war that could undermine the broadest global recovery in years.

The ministry said Chinese purchases of those goods past year totaled $3 billion. But a senior USA official later said that Washington was “not interested in creating terms for a dialogue”.

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The Chinese side is ready and capable of safeguarding its national interests, said Liu, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, director of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs and the leader of the Chinese side in the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Dialogue.

Trade feud with China heating up