China threatens to hit back against countries striking trade deals with US at its expense

Beijing | China on Monday threatened to impose countermeasures on countries seeking to strike trade deals with the US at the expense of Chinese interests.

The Commerce Ministry spokesperson made these remarks when responding to reports that the US is preparing to pressure other countries to restrict trade ties with China in exchange for tariff exemptions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China firmly opposes any deal between the US and its trading partners at the expense of Chinese interests, the spokesperson said in a statement.

"If such a situation arises, China will not accept it and will resolutely take corresponding countermeasures," the statement said, adding that China has the right to resolve and the capability to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

Under the guise of so-called "reciprocity," the US has been recently arbitrarily imposing tariffs on all its trading partners while pressuring them to engage in so-called "reciprocal tariff" negotiations, the spokesperson said.

"This is essentially using the banner of 'reciprocity' as a pretext to pursue hegemonic politics and unilateral bullying in the field of international economy and trade," the spokesperson said.

China's tough stand came against the backdrop of reports that a number of countries against whom US President Donald Trump imposed varied amounts of tariffs are now seeking to work out bilateral trade deals with Washington to resume their exports to access the lucrative US market.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported that the US plans to use tariff negotiations to pressure dozens of countries into imposing new barriers on trade with China.

A host of countries, including Japan and the ASEAN, have lucrative trade with both China and the US.

China's firm stand will leave these countries in a quandary.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has just concluded a high-profile visit to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, the three important ASEAN countries, to reinforce Beijing's strong trade ties with those countries.

Trump has imposed 245 per cent tariffs against China and paused tariff hikes against about 70 countries to work out separate trade deals with them to gain more access to American products to their markets.

China retaliated against the US exports with 125 per cent tariffs, besides announcing control measures to restrict exports of rare earth metals, key to the US defence industry.

The spokesperson emphasised that appeasement does not bring peace, compromise does not lead to respect, and attempts to trade the interests of others for tariff exemptions are doomed to fail and will ultimately harm all parties involved.

China respects all parties that seek to resolve their trade disputes with the United States through equal consultation, the spokesperson said, calling on all parties to stand on the side of fairness and justice, align with the right side of history, and uphold international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system. In the face of unilateralism and protectionism, no country can remain unaffected, the spokesperson said.

"Once international trade reverts to the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will suffer," the spokesperson added.

China is ready to work with all parties to strengthen solidarity and coordination, jointly oppose unilateral bullying, safeguard respective legitimate rights and interests, and uphold international fairness and justice, the spokesperson said.