🔗 Share this article

The former US president’s latest ultimatum to enforce an additional full import duty on items imported from China has been described as a “typical example” of US double standards, according to the Beijing administration.

A official from China’s Commerce Ministry also stated that China could implement its own undisclosed “retaliatory steps” if the US President carries out his warning, adding that the country was “unafraid” of a potential trade war.

This past Friday, Trump responded at China’s decision to tighten its rules for overseas sales of critical elements, accusing the Chinese leadership of “turning aggressive” and attempting to hold the international market “captive”.

Additionally, he warned to pull out of a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi, which was set for a conference in the Republic of Korea in the coming weeks.

His statements on that day shook stock exchanges, with the S&P 500 closing down over two and a half percent, marking its largest decline since earlier this year.

The president’s words revived apprehensions of a trade war between the US and China.

Earlier this year, the both nations had agreed to drop high import duties on each other’s products, which had raised the prospect of trade halting between the two countries.

This left, American import duties on Chinese goods incurring an added thirty percent tariff compared with the start of the year, while American products entering China are subject to a ten percent duty.

China’s latest remarks – published by the Commerce Ministry in the manner of formal replies to journalist’s questions – reflected terminology from the height of the recent trade conflict.

They criticised American limits on exports on electronic components while justifying China’s own restrictions on exports on key elements as “standard procedures” to protect national security and that of all nations.

Their representative stated that for “an extended period”, the United States had “expanded the interpretation” of domestic safety, exploited export control measures and “implemented” biased policies against Beijing.

“Resorting to trade levy ultimatums is not the correct approach to interact with Beijing,” the spokesperson said.

“China’s position on a trade conflict has remained steady: we wish to avoid one, but we are unafraid of one.”

The previous week, Beijing announced it was reinforcing overseas sale regulations on rare earth minerals and additional substances vital for advanced tech manufacturing.

This was seen as a important measure, as the country handles about 90% of the world’s rare earths, which are utilized in goods such as renewable energy components and smartphones.

New remarks from both governments are being viewed by some as a strategy of enhancing bargaining power in preparation for forthcoming discussions.

Remains uncertain whether a summit between the former president and China’s leader, expected at a high-level meeting in Seoul in the coming weeks, will go ahead.