China Urges U.S. To Immediately Lift Tariffs, Vows Retaliation

China has urged the United States to immediately cancel its latest tariffs and vowed to implement countermeasures to protect its own interests, after President Donald Trump declared sweeping levies on all U.S. trading partners worldwide, Joe Cash, Xiuhao Chen, and Liz Lee reported for Reuters.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said that the U.S. disregards the balance of interests established through years of multilateral trade negotiations, and overlooks the fact that the U.S. has long benefited from international trade. I Photo: N509FZ Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. action disregards the balance of interests established through years of multilateral trade negotiations, and overlooks the fact that the U.S. has long benefited from international trade, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

"China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests," the ministry stated, as the world's largest economies appear poised to spiral deeper into a trade war that could disrupt global supply chains.

This week, Trump announced that China would face a 34% tariff—on top of the 20% he imposed earlier this year—bringing the total to 54%, nearing the 60% figure he had threatened during his campaign.

Chinese exporters, along with those from every other economy, will be subject to a 10% baseline tariff under the new 34% levy on nearly all goods shipped to the world’s largest consumer economy beginning Saturday.

The higher "reciprocal tariffs" will take effect from April 9, Ella Cao, Jing Wang, Shi Bu, Yukun Zhang, Qiaoyi Li, and Ethan Wang also reported for Reuters.