China pledges firm response to US tariff increase

China will firmly implement retaliatory measures to protect its rights and interests if the United States intensifies its tariff actions, the nation's Ministry of Commerce stated on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the ministry made these remarks following the US's warning of a potential 50% tariff increase on Chinese imports, a move that China strongly opposes.

The US so-called "reciprocal tariffs" against China are groundless and a typical practice of unilateral bullying, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that the countermeasures China has adopted are entirely legitimate actions aimed at protecting its sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as maintaining a normal international trade order.

The US tariff escalation threat against China compounds its mistake and further exposes its nature of blackmail, which China will never accept, said the spokesperson.

"China will fight till the end if the US side is bent on going down the wrong path," the spokesperson noted.

China reiterates that there is no winner in a trade war and protectionism leads nowhere, said the spokesperson, adding that pressuring and threatening is not the right way to engage with the country.

China urges the United States to immediately correct its wrongdoings, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China, stop its economic and trade suppression, and settle differences with China properly through equal-footed dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, the spokesperson said.