China is preparing to retaliate if US president-elect Donald Trump raises duties on Chinese goods and has already toughened its stance, a US business group said yesterday.
Trump, who is to be inaugurated tomorrow, threatened during his campaign to raise import duties on Chinese goods to 45 percent.
US companies are frustrated by Chinese market barriers and want Washington to take a tougher stance toward Beijing, but worry reckless action might trigger retaliation.
China has already imposed unusually high anti-dumping penalties against a US-made agricultural chemical.
“China has indeed threatened to and is preparing to take steps in retaliation if such actions take place,” American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China board member Lester Ross told a news conference.
In an implicit rebuke to Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Tuesday defended free trade in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
A “trade war” would harm all nations involved, he said.
On Wednesday last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce raised duties on DGGS, an additive for livestock feed, to up to 53.7 percent, nearly double the 33.8 percent rate it recommended in September last year before Trump was elected.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Officials have not said publicly that China is preparing retaliatory measures, but state media have emphasized China’s importance as a market for US soybeans and other exports, and warned against starting a “trade war.”
Asked at a Jan. 6 news conference whether Beijing would retaliate by increasing duties on US goods, Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen (王受文) said: “I believe mutually beneficial Sino-US economic and trade relations will be further developed in the future and no one will destroy the win-win relationship.”
The US and China have one of the world’s biggest and most complex trading relationships, but US companies increasingly complain Beijing is blocking access to technology and other promising industries.
While Beijing has promised to open more industries to foreign companies, it has also issued new rules on electric car manufacturing, data security, Internet censorship and other fields.
In a reflection of companies’ concerns, AmCham China chairman William Zarit said the group plans to send seven or eight businesspeople to Washington next month to meet lawmakers and Trump administration officials.
Zarit said that is in addition to a delegation that makes an annual visit to Washington in April or May, because this year is “special in many ways.”
“We certainly are not going there to lecture the administration, but we will share our ideas on a win-win path forward,” Zarit said.
In a report released yesterday, the chamber said a survey found US companies are increasingly unhappy with what they see as unfair treatment in China.
“We would recommend that the US be more aggressive in talks, [but] we don’t want to do things that are counterproductive to both countries,” Zarit said.
The chamber said 81 percent of companies that responded to a survey feel “less welcome” in China, up from 77 percent last year.
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