China firmly opposes U.S. tariff proposals, counter measures underway

China strongly condemns and firmly opposes the U.S. tariff proposals and is ready to take countermeasures on U.S. products, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.

A MOC spokesperson made the statement after the U.S. administration announced a proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covers Chinese exports worth 50 billion U.S. dollars with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent.

View of the headquarters of China's Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. [File Photo: IC]

"Disregarding strong representations by China, the United States announced the tariff proposals that are completely unfounded, a typical unilateralist and protectionist practice that China strongly condemns and firmly opposes," according to the statement.

The U.S. side published the list in disregard of the mutually-beneficial and win-win nature of the China-U.S. commercial cooperation in the past 40 years, the appeal of the Chinese and American business communities and the interests of consumers, it said.

The move went against the interests of China, the United States and the world economy, seriously violating the basic principles and spirit of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

China plans to immediately bring relevant U.S. practice to the dispute settlement body of the WTO, and is ready to take countermeasures on U.S. products with equal force and scale that will be published in the coming days.

"We have the confidence and ability to respond to any U.S. trade protectionist measures," the spokesperson said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang also made a response Wednesday, saying the U.S. tariff proposals are "typical unilateralist and protectionist action." 

China strongly condemns and firmly opposes such action, Lu said. 

In a statement responding to the list of proposed tariffs on Chinese products from the US Trade Representative's Office, the Chinese Embassy in the US says China firmly opposes the US action and will respond with the same scale and strength.

The Embassy says the US investigation under Section 301 of a 1974 U.S. trade law is "unfounded" and the US trade move serves nobody's interest at all.

China will take the disputes to the WTO, the Embassy says, and will also "take corresponding measures of equal scale and strength" against the US.

Zhang Xiangchen, Chinese ambassador to the WTO, said in a written statement the announcement of unilateral measures by the United States is an intentional and gross violation of the WTO's fundamental principles of non-discrimination and bound tariffs.

The Chinese diplomat made the statement after the U.S. government announced the proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covers Chinese exports worth 50 billion U.S. dollars with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent.

Despite strong warnings from business groups and trade experts, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on March 22 that could impose tariffs on Chinese imports and restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States.

The memorandum is based on a Section 301 investigation, launched by the Trump administration in August 2017, into alleged Chinese intellectual property and technology transfer practices.

The move came after the U.S. administration took an increasingly hawkish turn on China, as it blamed its trade deficit with major trading partners for its domestic economic woes and job losses.