China says tariffs of ‘same scale’ coming immediately, indicates trade talks will need to start over

Finance news

China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday that it will respond immediately on the same scale to the Trump administration’s new tariffs on Chinese goods worth up to $50 billion.

“We will immediately introduce taxation measures of the same scale and the same strength,” the ministry said in an English-language statement.

“All the economic and trade achievements previously reached by the two parties will no longer be valid at the same time,” the ministry said, calling the U.S. behavior “short-sighted.”

In May, Beijing and the U.S. agreed to “meaningful increases” in U.S. agriculture and energy exports to China. However, the White House subsequently said it would still pursue tariffs on Chinese goods that were proposed in April, causing trade relations to deteriorate.

On Friday, President Donald Trump said in a statement the U.S. will implement a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of goods from China “that contain industrially significant technologies.”

“This includes goods related to China’s Made in China 2025 strategic plan to dominate the emerging high-technology industries that will drive future economic growth for China, but hurt economic growth for the United States and many other countries,” Trump said.

The U.S. will “pursue additional tariffs if China engages in retaliatory measures,” the statement added.

Ahead of Trump’s statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular daily news briefing that “if the United States takes unilateral, protectionist measures, harming China’s interests, we will quickly react and take necessary steps to resolutely protect our fair, legitimate rights.”

Back in April, Beijing revealed a list of 106 imports from the U.S. that will be subject to a 25 percent tariff, including soybeans and cars.