China warns US tariff war ‘huge risk’ to world economy

BEIJING: China’s finance minister lashed out at US tariffs for bringing “unprecedented huge risks” to the global economy, according to an article published by his ministry on Tuesday.

The world’s two largest economies are engaged in a punishing trade war in which US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs reaching 145 per cent on many Chinese products and Beijing retaliated with 125 per cent duties on imports from the United States.

Lan Fo’an, speaking at an Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting in Milan that began on Sunday, did not specifically mention the United States but said the risks were the result of “a certain country (that) has launched tariff wars and trade wars”.

“The current international situation is becoming more turbulent and chaotic, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise,” he said, calling on ADB members to uphold the rules of multilateral institutions.

China’s commerce ministry raised hopes on Friday that there could be negotiations with the US when it said it was “currently evaluating” a US offer of trade talks.

However, it insisted Washington must first cancel “unilateral tariffs” on China, a step Trump rejected in an interview with NBC recorded on Friday.

Trump said in the interview, which aired on Sunday, that China’s economy was “collapsing”.

Asked if he would drop tariffs to get China to the negotiating table, he said: “Why would I do that?”

Beijing has repeatedly pledged to fight a trade war “to the end” if needed, with a video posted by its foreign ministry on social media last week vowing it would “never kneel down”.

“If it’s fight, we will fight to the end; if it’s talk, the door is wide open. The tariff war and trade war were unilaterally initiated by the US side,” the commerce ministry said on Friday.

Both economies have been hit as the tariffs shook markets and roiled supply chains.

China’s factory activity shrank in April, with Beijing blaming a “sharp shift” in the global economy.

Data showed last Wednesday that the US economy contracted in the first three months of the year as Trump’s tariff plans triggered an import surge.