China ‘not afraid’ of tariff war

BEIJING China signaled Sunday that it would not back down in the face of a tariff threat from President Donald Trump urging the U S to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats U S Vice President JD Vance defended Trump s position and seemed to warn China not to be aggressive in its response China s stance is consistent the Commerce Ministry stated in a announcement posted online We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one It was China s first official comment on Trump s threat to jack up the tax on imports from China by Nov in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths minerals which are vital to a wide range of consumer and military products The back and forth threatens to derail a practicable meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping and end a truce in a commerce war in which new tariffs from both sides briefly topped in April In response Vance mentioned Sunday that Trump is committed to protecting America s economic livelihoods while making the United States more self-sufficient He stated the fact that China has so much control over critical supply in the United States of America is the definition of a national exigency and therefore justifies Trump s move to impose tough tariffs It s going to be a delicate dance and a lot of it is going to depend on how the Chinese respond If they respond in a highly aggressive manner I guarantee you the president of the United States has far more cards than the People s Republic of China Vance revealed on Fox News Channel s Sunday Morning Futures If however they re willing to be reasonable then Donald Trump is inevitably willing to be a reasonable negotiator We re going to find out a lot in the weeks to come about whether China wants to start a transaction war with us or whether they certainly want to be reasonable Vance continued I hope they choose the path of reason The president of the United States is going to defend America regardless Trump has raised taxes on imports from numerous U S trading partners since taking office in January seeking to win concessions China has been one of the scant countries that hasn t backed down relying on its economic clout Frequently resorting to the threat of high tariffs is not the correct way to get along with China the Commerce Ministry reported in its post which was presented as a series of answers from an unnamed spokesperson to four questions from unspecified media outlets The declaration called for addressing any concerns through dialogue If the U S side obstinately insists on its practice China will be sure to resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests the post noted In addition to the tariff Trump threatened to impose export controls on what he called critical program without specifying what that means Both sides accuse the other of violating the spirit of the truce by imposing new restrictions on deal Trump revealed in a social media post that China is becoming very hostile and that it is holding the world captive by restricting access to rare earth metals and magnets The Chinese Commerce Ministry post commented the U S has introduced several new restrictions in up-to-date weeks including expanding the number of Chinese companies subject to U S export controls On rare earths the ministry noted that export licenses would be granted for legitimate civilian uses noting that the minerals also have military applications The new regulations include a requirement that foreign companies get Chinese administration approval to export items that contain rare earths sourced from China no matter where the products are manufactured China accounts for nearly of the world s rare earths mining and controls roughly of their global processing Access to the material is a key point of contention in deal talks between Washington and Beijing The critical minerals go into various products from jet engines radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics including laptops and phones China s export controls have hit European and other manufacturers as well as American ones The Commerce Ministry comment revealed that the U S is also ignoring Chinese concerns by going forward with new port fees on Chinese ships that take effect Tuesday China disclosed Friday that it would impose port fees on American ships in response President Donald Trump AP Photo Alex Brandon