Reciprocal tariffs will undermine trade

Once the United States imposes its proposed "reciprocal tariffs", it will inevitably seriously undermine the multilateral trading system and affect the global supply chain, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The ministry's comments follow US President Donald Trump's signing of a memorandum instructing relevant departments to determine "reciprocal tariffs "for each foreign trading partner on Feb 13.

China has urged the United States to not use tariffs as a tool for threatening people everywhere.

There is no way out, or a winner, in the tariff dispute. The United States should correct its wrong practices and work with other countries to find a solution to the problem through equal consultation, the commerce ministry said.

"International trade, based on each country's own resource endowments and comparative advantages, has effectively promoted global economic growth and improved the well-being of people," He Yadong, a spokesman for the ministry, said during a news conference in Beijing.

"The US believes that it has suffered losses in international trade and wants to increase tariffs on all trading partners. The move is set to cause great uncertainty to normal international economic and trade activities, and many countries have expressed their opposition," He said.

This approach violates the rules of the World Trade Organization, and ignores the balance of interests negotiated in the multilateral trading system over the past 80 years, and the fact that the United States has long benefited significantly from international trade. It is typical unilateralism and protectionism, He added.

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said higher tariffs on Chinese goods will likely result in higher costs of importing products from China, and this cost may be further amplified along the supply chain. Ultimately, US consumers could face price inflation on certain products.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce said China hopes to expand green industry cooperation with Europe, including cooperation on electric vehicles. This was in reference to the European Commission's move to levy long-term countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles from China.

"China and Europe are important economic and trade partners, with complementary advantages and mutual benefits in economic and trade cooperation," He said.

China appealed to the WTO in November against the EU's final ruling on countervailing measures targeting Chinese BEVs.