Rome, March 4 (LaPresse) – China "firmly rejects" further U.S. tariffs on Chinese products and will adopt countermeasures. This was stated by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in a note. The tariffs "will harm" trade relations between the U.S. and China, and China urges the U.S. to withdraw them, the ministry said in Chinese. Beijing had previously warned of countermeasures but has not yet specified them. After the first round of new U.S. tariffs in February, China's retaliation measures included raising tariffs on some U.S. energy imports and placing two U.S. companies on an unreliable entities list, potentially limiting their ability to do business in the Asian country. The White House confirmed that new 10% tariffs on Chinese products will take effect on Tuesday, bringing the total amount of new tariffs imposed in about a month to 20%. According to Ting Lu, chief economist at Nomura, the U.S.'s effective average tariff rate on Chinese products is expected to reach 33%, up from about 13% before U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.
"China has repeatedly stated that U.S. unilateral tariffs violate World Trade Organization rules and undermine the multilateral trading system. Such measures will not solve the problems (of the U.S.), but instead will harm economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S. and disrupt regular international trade," said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement. China also urges the U.S. to "immediately withdraw" the unilateral tariff measures that are "unreasonable and unfounded, harmful to others." The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has promised to react to the new U.S. tariffs, accusing the Trump administration of trying to "shift the blame" and "intimidate" Beijing on fentanyl flows. In a statement, the ministry urged the U.S. to "immediately withdraw" the tariffs, describing them as "unreasonable and unfounded, harmful to others." On Monday, the state-run media outlet The Global Times reported that China could target U.S. agricultural and food products with both tariff and non-tariff measures.