China threatens 'countermeasures' to US tariffs

China on Friday vowed to fight "unilateral US protectionism at any cost" after United States President Donald Trump ordered officials to consider USD 100 billion in additional tariffs against its goods.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said in a statement that while it did not want a trade war with the US, it was not afraid of it.

The ministry's spokesperson said, "On Sino-US trade, China has made its position very clear. We don't want a trade war, but we are not afraid of such a war. If the US continues its protectionism regardless of opposition from China and the international community, China will fight to the end at any cost to "protect the interests of the country and the people," Xinhua reported.

United States President Donald Trump on Friday ordered his administration to consider tariffs on an additional USD 100 billion in Chinese imports, further escalating the trade tiff between the two countries.

Reportedly, China on Thursday formally launched a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge against Trump's first round of proposed tariffs.

Criticising the move, the spokesperson added, "Concerning the US statement, we will not only listen to the words but also watch the deeds. The conflict was initiated by the United States as a provocation."

"Essentially, it's about the US unilateralism challenging the global multilateralism and the U.S. protectionism challenging the global free trade," the spokesperson added.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry further stated that Beijing would continue to safeguard multi-lateral trade and promote global trade as it looks to reform and open up its economy.

Further, on Wednesday, China threatened tariffs of its own on 106 US products, including on soybeans, cars and some aeroplanes. The country's commerce ministry said that it planned to slap 25 percent levies on a range of U.S. goods worth about USD 50 billion.

That was in response to the release by the US of a list of proposed tariffs a day earlier, covering 50 billion USD in Chinese products. As of now, none of the proposed tariffs above has yet to come into effect.

On March 23, Trump imposed massive trade tariffs amounting to USD 60 billion on China, in an effort to stop the latter from stealing "intellectual property" from American companies.