China ‘resolutely opposes escalation of the US trade war’, prefers ‘calm negotiations’, vice-premier says

Last week US President Donald Trump announced plans for wide-ranging tariff increases on Chinese imports in response to news of retaliatory tariffs from Beijing

Vice-Premier Liu He says that China has the policies and tools to maintain its economic conditions despite the tariffs threat hanging over US$550 billion of goods

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China’s Vice-Premier Liu He gave his speech at the Smart China Expo in Chongqing on Monday. Photo: Weibo

Published: 3:01pm, 26 Aug 2019Updated: 4:01pm, 26 Aug 2019

China “resolutely opposes the escalation of the trade war” with the United States and instead welcomes “calm negotiations”, according to Vice-Premier Liu He, after last week’s moves by both Beijing and Washington further increased the trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Liu, who is China’s chief trade negotiator, was responding to Friday’s announcement that the US plans to raise the tariff rate on US$250 billion of Chinese imports from 25 per cent to 30 per cent from October 1, and the tariff on US$300 billion of goods from 10 per cent to 15 per cent starting on September 1.

This had been in response to China’s move earlier on Friday for plans to impose retaliatory tariffs of 5 to 10 per cent on US$75 billion worth of American products, including soybeans, pork, and, for the first time, crude oil. China also reinstated the 25 per cent penalty duty on imports of US-made cars and car parts, bringing the total tariff to 40 per cent.

“We are willing to resolve the trade dispute with the US through calm negotiations,” Liu said in a speech at the Smart China Expo in Chongqing on Monday. “We resolutely oppose the escalation of the trade war, which is not beneficial for the US or China. It is also not beneficial to the world.”

China themselves were responding to US plans for new tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese imports.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said at the G7 summit in France that he had “second thoughts” on escalating the trade war with China, although The White House later clarified that he meant that he regretted not raising the tariffs even further. The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the US. The European Union is also represented within the G7.