The U.S.-China ‘cold war’ on trade is getting hotter. Following reports that the U.S. President Donald Trump might be considering a hike in proposed tariff rate to 20% from 10% on $200 billion of Chinese imports, China policymakers seem to be in no mood to give in.
On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that China is prepared to retaliate “to defend the nation’s dignity and the interests of the people, defend free trade and the multilateral system, and defend the common interests of all countries.” The Ministry also indicated that it is willing to negotiate as long as the parties “treat each other equally”.
Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report implied that the U.S. apparently is open to negotiations only if Beijing welcomes more competition in its markets and does not retaliate against U.S. trade measures – based on comments from two senior administration officials who did not want to be named, according to Bloomberg.