China’s commerce ministry on Thursday said it firmly objects to the United States raising tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium products and will take all necessary measures to protect its rights.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for sharply higher tariffs on Chinese metal products, which angered Beijing.
“We urge the U.S. to face up to its own problems, stop raising tariffs on Chinese products, and immediately lift the additional tariffs on China,” a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement.
The Biden administration threatened to raise tariffs and is also pressuring Mexico to prohibit China from selling its metal products to the United States indirectly from there.
The spokesperson said the measures are typical “unilateralism and protectionism,” which China opposes.
“The U.S. has ignored the international economic and trade order and rules, politicised economic and trade issues, abused the so-called Section 301 tariff review procedure, and openly demanded arbitrary adjustment of tariffs on Chinese products,” the spokesperson said.
“The U.S. pressure on other countries to restrict Chinese products will undermine the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
It was latest move by the U.S. to place trade hurdles before the world’s second largest economy. The U.S. is also launching an investigation into Chinese trade practices across the shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.
The U.S. has also tightened semiconductor export rules, making it harder for China to access U.S. artificial intelligence chips and chipmaking tools.