A spokesperson for China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday that Beijing hoped the U.S. would work to de-escalate the trade war between the world’s two largest economies after President Trump announced a pause on higher tariffs he had imposed on many other countries.
“China’s position is clear and consistent: the door to talks is open, but dialogue must be conducted on an equal basis with mutual respect,” Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian said. “China will stand by its position until the end. Pressuring, threatening, and blackmailing are not the correct ways to deal with China. We hope that the U.S. will work with China. Based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and a win-win cooperation, we will properly resolve differences through dialogue and consultation.”
Mr. Trump announced a pause on the planned implementation of higher tariffs for almost all nations late Wednesday, leaving a 10% universal tariff in place, but said he was raising tariffs on China from 104% to 125%. The heightened levies took effect Thursday, at the same time as Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs of 84% took effect on U.S. imports to China.
“I have reiterated China’s position many times, and it is very clear. We do not provoke trouble, nor do we fear trouble. The legitimate development rights of the Chinese people and the people of the world cannot be taken away. China’s and like all other countries’ sovereignty, security, and development interests should not be infringed upon,” He said.
China’s foreign ministry took a harsher stance, and vowed to fight on.
“The U.S.’s reckless and unjust actions go against the will of the people and are doomed to fail in the end,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said. “I want to reiterate that in a tariff war or trade war, there are no winners. China does not want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one. We will never stand by and watch the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people be undermined, nor will we allow international trade rules and the multilateral trading system to be trampled upon. If the United States insists on waging a tariff war or trade war, China will fight to the end.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he believed he could come to a resolution with China.
“China wants to make a deal,” the president said at the White House. “They just don’t know how quite to go about it.”
EU announces its own 90-day pause on any retaliatory tariffs
In other parts of the world, as markets rallied in response to Mr. Trump’s tariff rollback after days of steep losses, leaders and economists continued to express concern about economic uncertainty, but there was also more potentially positive news for stock traders.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a social media post that the 27-nation bloc would put its own plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports on hold for 90 days, matching Mr. Trump’s latest move.
“We want to give negotiations a chance,” Von der Leyen said. “While finalizing the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our Member States, we will put them on hold for 90 days.”
The EU leader had earlier warned that “clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.”
“The risks remain huge,” Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said, according to the Reuters news agency.
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