US tariff plan doomed to be futile: China

The US is playing hard and soft tactics with China on the trade issue, but such a two-faced approach is doomed to be futile and will disappoint countries and regions opposing the trade war, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The comments came after the US threatened to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent and later spread the news that it wants to restart negotiations with China.

The US act set aside the interests of its own farmers, business owners, consumers and the interests of the world, the ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"Facing such an escalating trade war threat, China has made full preparations and will be forced to take countermeasures in order to defend national dignity, the interests of its people, free trade and the multilateral system, as well as the common interests of all countries," the spokesperson said.

He said that China believes in solving differences through dialogue, but that should come with the prerequisite of equal treatment and honouring commitments.

The ultimate purpose of the US' baseless accusations against China is to suppress the latter's peaceful development, according to the spokesperson.

"We always believe that bad things can be turned into good things and challenges can be converted into opportunities. We have full confidence in achieving the high-quality economic development target," he said.

--IANS

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