China to ‘fight back’ against any threatened US tariffs

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China to 'fight back' against any threatened US tariffs

China is vowing to “fight back firmly” if the United States makes good on President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats. The new duties could apply to up to $400 billion in Chinese goods.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Escalating a trade conflict with China, U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening new tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods – and an extra $200 billion if Beijing retaliates.

“We’re going to take care of our American farmers and our manufacturing jobs,” Trump said Tuesday.

The United States had already announced it will impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods beginning in July to punish China for what Trump says are unfair trade practices.

China is matching the tariffs with its own duties on an equal value of U.S. goods.
To retaliate for that move, Trump is calling for 10 percent duties on an additional $200 billion in Chinese products. If China retaliates again, Trump is threatening tariffs on another $200 billion.

That is approaching the total value of all goods that China exported to the United States in 2017.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce was quick to respond to the threats, accusing the United States of using “blackmail” and violating the consensus reached by the two countries.

The ministry said it would fight back with “quantitative and qualitative” measures, suggesting Beijing’s countermoves could go beyond tariffs, deepening the rift between the two countries.


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