Beijing challenges Washington before the WTO, as the Trump administration blames global economic “turbulence.”
China announced it would raise tariffs on all US goods to 125%, further deepening the trade war between the two greatest economies of the world.
“The US imposition of unusually high tariffs on China seriously violates international trade rules, basic economic law, common sense and common sense,” the customs committee of the state council in Beijing said in a statement announcing retaliatory tariffs on Friday.
The new levy will come into effect on Saturday, the statement said.
President Donald Trump imposed more tariffs on Beijing earlier this week, despite China and the US being engaged in the standard tariff war and suspending tariffs in other countries after the US market reacted negatively to the decision.
Trump’s universal tariffs on China are currently at a total of 145%. When he announced on Wednesday that China faced a 125% tariff, he did not include a 20% tariff on China, which was tied to its role in fentanyl production.
Meanwhile, China’s Commerce Department has announced that it will file a new lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which challenges US tariffs.
Washington’s collection has caused (stricken) “the current global economy, global markets and multilateral trading system to suffer severe shocks and severe turbulence,” a ministry spokesperson said. “The United States should take full responsibility for this.”
The department urged the United States to “take a major step towards eliminating the so-called “mutual tariffs” and completely correct its illegal practices.”
“The US has become a numbers game to alternately raise unusually high tariffs in China, but it has no practical economic importance and is a joke in the history of the world economy,” the spokesman said.
“However, if the US insists that it will continue to infringe on China’s interests in substantially, China will refute and fight to the end,” the spokesman added.
“Super strong” statement
Katrinayu, Al Jazeera’s report from Beijing, described the statement from Chinese officials as “very strong.”
However, our correspondent also pointed out that Beijing is offering an “off-ramp” for dialogue with Trump, and that China is “continuing to be in consultation.”
“But threats and pressure are not the road, so China says the doors are open,” she said. “However, as long as the Trump administration continues to impose these high tariffs, as long as Beijing is perceived as coercion, it is a non-starter of true dialogue and true trade possibilities.”
Karl Weiderquist, a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera he hopes the trade war between China and the US will promptly promote inflation.
He explained that U.S. consumers could already be in a hurry to buy items even before tariffs were in effect, which would increase demand and retailers would raise prices.
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