China slams ‘appeasement’ of US as nations rush to secure trade deals

BEIJING: China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing´s expense, vowing countermeasures against those who “appease” Washington in the blistering tariff war as its neighbours rush to secure favourable terms from the White House.

While the rest of the world has been hit with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.

Parallel to Washington´s full trade war against top economic rival China, a number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs. The finance and trade ministers from South Korea -- a major exporter to the United States -- will hold high-level trade talks in Washington this week, Seoul said.

South Korean giants such as Samsung Electronics and auto maker Hyundai stand to take a hefty hit if the White House goes ahead with its threatened levies. Japan´s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that talks between Japan and the United States could be a “model for the world”, after Tokyo´s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa visited Washington and met President Donald Trump last week.

“The fact that President Trump came out (to negotiate with Japan´s envoy)... shows he sees talks with Japan as important,” he told the country´s parliament on Monday. “Japan is their ally and the biggest investor and job creator in the US,” Ishiba said.