The Chinese government has warned the US to stop “wrong” trade actions or face serious consequences.
The warning comes after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 5% duty on Chinese goods – hours after Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs on about $75 billion worth of US goods.
Trump said in a tweet on Friday that the US will raise its tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports from 25% to 30% starting on 1 October.
In addition, planned tariffs on $300bn of other Chinese goods will now be 15% instead of 10%.
“Sadly, past administrations have allowed China to get so far ahead of fair and balanced trade that it has become a great burden to the American taxpayer,” Mr Trump tweeted. “As president, I can no longer allow this to happen!”
According to Reuters, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Saturday:
“Such unilateral and bullying trade protectionism and maximum pressure violates the consensus reached by head of China and United States, violates the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit, and seriously damages the multilateral trade system and the normal international trade order.”
“China strongly urges the United States not to misjudge the situation or underestimate determination of the Chinese people,” the statement added.