China yesterday accused the US of using false accusations on trade to “intimidate” other countries, as the tariff battle between the global giants intensifies.
The US has “made a series of false accusations, and used increasing tariffs and other means of economic intimidation, to try to impose its own interests on China by way of extreme pressure,” China’s State Council said in a white paper on trade and economic tensions with Washington.
The white paper blames US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy for torpedoing years of progress in settling differences through bilateral forums and exchanges.
Photo: AP
“Since the new US administration took office in 2017, under the slogan of ‘America First,’ the US has abandoned the basic norms of international exchanges such as mutual respect and equal consultation, and implemented unilateralism, protectionism and economic hegemonism,” it said.
“China’s door is always open for negotiations,” the white paper said, but added they “cannot be carried out under the threat of a big tariff stick, nor at the expense of China’s right to development.”
The message from Beijing came hours after the US imposed new tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, drawing a pledge of tit-for-tat action from Beijing.
The latest volley against Beijing brings the amount of goods hit by duties to more than US$250 billion, about half of China’s US exports, with US consumers set to increasingly feel the pain.
“We are going to win it,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said of the trade war on Fox News Sunday. “We’re going to get an outcome which forces China to behave in a way that if you want to be a power — a global power — transparency, rule of law, you don’t steal intellectual property.”
Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs on US$60 billion of US goods were set to go into effect soon after the US action, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said last week.
China targeted 5,200 US goods with 5 to 10 percent tariffs, including big-ticket items such as liquefied natural gas, lumber and electronics, as well as peppermint oil, pig hides and condoms.
It leaves Beijing hitting US$110 billion worth of US goods, nearly everything it buys from the US.
Hopes for talks to resolve the issue appeared to have been dealt a blow as the Wall Street Journal reported Beijing canceled the visit of a negotiating team expected on Thursday and Friday in Washington.
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