China says it will keep striking back at ‘unreasonable’ US tariffs
But retaliation will be as targeted as possible, according to finance minister
China will keep hitting back at Washington as more US trade tariffs are imposed, but its counter-strikes will remain as targeted as possible to avoid harming businesses in China – whether Chinese or foreign, Finance Minister Liu Kun said.
For now the impact of the China-US “trade frictions” on the Chinese economy has been small, but he is concerned about potential job losses and lost livelihoods, Liu, 61, told Reuters on Thursday in an interview at the finance ministry, his first with the media since taking up the position in March.
He said that the Chinese government would increase its spending to support workers and the unemployed who are hurt by the trade conflict, and also predicted bond issuance by local governments to support infrastructure investment this year will pick up and blow past 1 trillion yuan (US$145.46 billion) by the end of the current quarter.
“China doesn’t wish to engage in a trade war, but we will resolutely respond to the unreasonable measures taken by the United States,” Liu said. “If the United States persists with these measures, we will correspondingly take action to protect our interests.”
So far, China has either imposed or proposed tariffs on US$110 billion of US goods, representing most of its imports of American products. Crude oil and large aircraft are key US goods that are still not targeted for penalties.