By Eduardo Baptista and Selena Li
BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) -China called President Donald Trump’s latest U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods hypocritical on Sunday and defended its curbs on exports of rare earth elements and equipment, but stopped short of imposing new levies on U.S. products.
Trump on Friday responded to Beijing’s most recent export controls by imposing additional tariffs of 100% on China’s U.S.-bound exports, along with new export controls on critical software by November 1.
The revived trade tensions have rattled Wall Street, sending Big Tech shares tumbling, worried foreign companies dependent on China’s production of processed rare earths and rare earth magnets, and could derail a summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.
China’s commerce ministry said in a lengthy statement its export controls on rare-earth elements – which Trump on Friday called “surprising” and “very hostile” – followed a series of U.S. measures since bilateral trade talks in Madrid last month.
Beijing cited the addition of Chinese companies to a U.S. trade blacklist and Washington’s imposition of port fees on China-linked ships as examples.
“These actions have severely harmed China’s interests and undermined the atmosphere for bilateral economic and trade talks. China firmly opposes them,” the ministry said.
Beijing stopped short of explicitly connecting these U.S. actions to its curbs on exports of critical minerals, saying its curbs were motivated by concern about these metals’ military applications at a time of “frequent military conflict”.
It also held off on announcing a corresponding levy on China-bound U.S. imports, unlike earlier in the year, when both superpowers progressively ratcheted up tariffs on each other until the U.S. rate was 145% while China’s was 125%.
“Threatening to impose high tariffs at the drop of a hat is not the right way to deal with China. China’s position on tariff wars has always been consistent: we don’t want to fight, but we are not afraid to fight,” the commerce ministry said, adding that China would take corresponding measures if the U.S. did not correct its course.
However, China’s decision not to immediately respond to Trump’s opening salvo in this latest round of trade tensions could leave the door open for both countries to negotiate a de-escalation.
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by William Mallard)
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