The U.S. imposition of tariffs on $34 billion of China’s exports will not only hurt China, but the U.S. itself and the rest of the world, a government official said.
That’s because $20 billion of those goods are produced by foreign companies, including American companies, Gao Feng, China’s Commerce Ministry spokesman, said at a regular press conference in Beijing Thursday.
China won’t bow to threats or blackmail and will have to fight back if the U.S. goes ahead and imposes the tariffs, Gao said. Other nations understand China’s situation, he said, adding that China will protect the legitimate rights of foreign companies doing business here.
Gao spoke a day before both the U.S. and China are scheduled to start levying additional tariffs on targetted imports. In response to a question about whether China would actually start levying tariffs first due to the time difference, Gao reiterated that “China won’t fire the first shot”. It is the U.S. who has “provoked” this trade war, and China is forced to retaliate, he said.
After earlier indicating that it would start imposing the duties a few hours ahead of the U.S., the Ministry of Finance backtracked on Wednesday and said it would actually wait until after the U.S. acted.
China’s proposed additional tariffs on U.S. goods will become effective “immediately” after the U.S. imposes its levies, according to a statement on General Administration of Customs Thursday.
China’s exports to the U.S. expanded 5.4 percent in the first half, 13.9 percentage points lower than the same period last year, according to the General Administration of Customs.
