BeijingT – The U. S. is “opening fire” on the world with its threatened tariffs, China warned on Thursday, saying it will respond the instant U.S. measures go into effect as Beijing ramped up the rhetoric in a bitter trade dispute.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to escalate the trade conflict with tariffs on as much as 450 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods if China retaliates, with the row roiling financial markets including stocks, currencies and the global trade of commodities from soybeans to coal.
China has said it will not “fire the first shot”, but its customs agency made clear on Thursday that Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods would take effect immediately after U.S. duties on Chinese goods kick in.
Speaking at a weekly news conference, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng warned the proposed U.S. tariffs would hit international supply chains, including foreign companies in the world’s second-largest economy.
“If the U.S. implements tariffs, they will actually be adding tariffs on companies from all countries, including Chinese and U.S. companies,” Gao said.
“U.S. measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the U.S. is opening fire on the entire world, including itself,” he said.
“China will not bow down in the face of threats and blackmail and will not falter from its determination to defend free trade and the multilateral system.”
Asked whether U.S. companies would be targeted with “qualitative measures” in China in a trade war, Gao said the government would protect the legal rights of all foreign companies in the country.
“We will continue to assess the potential impact of the U.S.-initiated trade war on companies and will help companies mitigate possible shocks.”
Gao said China’s foreign trade was expected to continue on a stable path in the second half of the year, though investors fear a full-blown Sino-U.S. trade war would deal a body blow to Chinese exports and its economy.
Foreign companies accounted for $20 billion, or 59 per cent, of the 34 billion dollars of exports from China that will be subject to new U.S. tariffs, with U.S. firms accounting for a significant part of that 59 per cent, Gao said.
China’s plans to impose tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods targets some top U.S. exports, including soybeans, sorghum and cotton, threatening U.S farmers in states that backed Trump, such as Texas and Iowa.
Chinese buying of soybeans has ground almost to a halt ahead of the duties, while Chinese farmers worry the penalties and tighter supplies will drive up costs, squeeze margins and ultimately inflate retail prices of pork, the country’s top-selling meat.
In the latest sign that the risk of penalties is hitting trade, a vessel carrying U.S. coal and heading for China was diverted on Wednesday to Singapore.
The World Trade Organisation warned on Wednesday that trade barriers being erected by major economies could jeopardize the global economic recovery, with their effects already starting to show.
Adding to the tensions, a Chinese court ton Monday temporarily barred Micron Technology Inc from selling its main semiconductor products in the world’s biggest memory chip market, citing violation of patents held by Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp.
Beijing has made the semiconductor sector a key priority under its “Made in China 2025” strategy, which has shifted up a gear after a U.S. ban on sales to Chinese phone maker ZTE Corp underscored China’s lack of domestic chips.
