• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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China decries US tariff ‘coercion’ as trade rhetoric heats up

China decries US tariff ‘coercion’ as trade rhetoric heats up

China has accused the US of “resorting to intimidation and coercion” as Beijing stepped up its trade war counter-offensive with tariff increases on $60bn of American goods and a probe into US delivery group FedEx.

Wang Shouwen, the deputy head of Beijing’s negotiating team, on Sunday hit out at Washington for effectively barring US companies from using equipment made by Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, saying it had complicated efforts to find a resolution to the trade impasse.

“The China-US economic and trade consultations have been severely frustrated by the US tariff increases and [Washington’s] abuse of export controls by including Chinese companies on the entities list,” Mr Wang said at the release of a Chinese government report on the state of US trade talks.

“The more the US government is offered, the more it wants,” China’s State Council added in the trade talks white paper. “Resorting to intimidation and coercion, it persisted with exorbitant demands . . . and insisted on including mandatory requirements [that infringe on] China’s sovereign affairs in the deal.”

Wei Fenghe, Chinese defence minister, also upped the rhetoric on Sunday, telling the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore: “If the US wants [more trade talks], we will keep the door open — if they want a fight, we will fight to the end.”

US president Donald Trump last month announced increased tariffs on about half of all Chinese exports to the US, worth about $250bn, and ordered the Department of Commerce to put Shenzhen-based Huawei on an “entities list” restricting its access to essential US components and technologies.

China responded by increasing tariffs on about $60bn dollars worth of US imports, which came into effect over the weekend, and announced it would establish its own blacklist of foreign companies that harm the interests of Chinese groups.
A day later, state media reported that Beijing was investigating FedEx for allegedly “undermining the legitimate rights and interests” of its Chinese clients.

Last week Huawei accused the Memphis-based delivery company of diverting packages destined for its offices in China to the US. FedEx said it would co-operate fully with the investigation, and has reportedly apologised for what it said was an error.

“Our relationship with Huawei Technologies and our relationships with all of our customers in China are important to us,” the company said in a statement.

Mr Wang sought to reassure foreign investors’ concerns about China’s list of “unreliable foreign companies and individuals”, saying the development had been “over-interpreted”.

“The legitimate rights and interests of foreign companies will be respected,” he said. “They should be at ease about this.”

But citing the investigation into FedEx, Mr Wang noted that foreign companies “should be investigated” if they violated Chinese law or abetted “non-commercial” actions against Chinese companies including “blockades”.

Mr Wang added that more details about the commerce ministry’s list of unreliable companies and individuals would be released “soon”.

The vice-minister declined to comment on whether Mr Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping would meet on the sidelines of this month’s G20 leaders’ summit in Japan — an event that most analysts believe will offer the two sides an opportunity to halt further escalations and resume talks that have been frozen since early May.

The US president, however, has threatened to begin implementing another round of tariffs — affecting all imports from China — later this month.