China urges US to immediately lift tariffs, vows retaliation amid trade war

China on Thursday urged the United States to immediately cancel its latest tariffs and vowed countermeasures to safeguard its own interests, after President Donald Trump declared sweeping levies on all US trading partners around the world. 

The US move disregards the balance of interests reached in multilateral trade negotiations over the years and the fact that it has long benefited greatly 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 said, as the world's largest economies look set to spiral deeper into a trade war that stands to upend global supply chains. 

 

Trump on Wednesday announced China would be hit with a 34 per cent tariff, on top of the 20 per cent he previously imposed earlier this year, bringing the total new levies to 54 per cent and close to the 60 per cent figure he had threatened while on the campaign trail. 

Chinese exporters, as with those from every other economy, will face a 10 per cent baseline tariff, as part of the new 34 per cent levy, on almost all goods shipped to the world's largest consumer economy from Saturday before the remaining, higher "reciprocal tariffs" take effect from April 9. 

Trump also signed an executive order closing a trade loophole known as "de minimis" that has allowed low-value packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the US duty free. 

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