China will retaliate if the United States insists on initiating a trade war, China’s ambassador to the United States was quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua on Friday. Speaking at an event held by the Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies at Harvard University this week, Cui Tiankai said any dispute should be worked out through dialogue and a trade war would poison the atmosphere of overall China-US relations. Cui also urged the United States to abandon a cold war and zero-sum mentality, Xinhua reported. “If we have a more positive and cooperative mindset, we could see clearly the emerging trends in the world, seize new opportunities, and turn challenges into opportunities,” said Cui. “That will bring about real benefits for the people of our two countries.” Beijing accuses US, EU of dumping rubber on China A trade war would not only harm both economies, but also undermine mutual confidence and hurt global growth, said Cui. “We are against any trade war. We believe any dispute should be worked out through dialogue and consultation,” said the ambassador. However, if the United States insists on initiating a trade war, China will retaliate, said Cui. China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday it would maintain anti-dumping measures on cellulose pulp from the United States, Canada and Brazil. The ministry said it made the decision after reviewing the anti-dumping measures. The ministry on Thursday announced new tariffs on rubber imported from the US, European Union and Singapore after an investigation found it was being sold at unfairly low prices. While the statement said the anti-dumping investigation was initiated in August, the ruling came as China and the US remain locked in a tit-for-tat trade fight, and just two days after Beijing imposed preliminary anti-dumping tariffs of 179 per cent on US sorghum. Strong yuan, rising costs are bigger worries than US trade war, say Chinese exporters Foreign suppliers had been “dumping” chlorobutyl rubber, which is used to make tyres, on China at the expense of local companies, the ministry said. In an initial ruling, importers representing such firms as ExxonMobil and Arlanxeo were told to pay import duty deposits ranging from 26 to 66.5 per cent to China customs.
