Ministry of Commerce of China in Beijing.
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The China Ministry of Commerce urged the United States to “cancel” immediately its unilateral tariff measures and promised to take “resolved countermeasures” to safeguard their own rights and interests, after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced what analysts described as the most pronounced rates increases in a century.
“The United States has drawn the so -called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ based on subjective and unilateral evaluations, which go against international commercial rules and seriously undermine the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant parties,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce in a statement, translated by CNBC.
The Chinese official described the decision of the Trump administration to impose reciprocal tariffs as a “typical unilateral intimidation practice”, adding that many countries have expressed “strong dissatisfaction and clear opposition.”
The statement occurs after Trump announced a 10% reference rate in all countries and rates more pronounced in many countries, including 34% in China, 20% in the European Union, 46% in Vietnam and 32% in Taiwan.
The rate of rates will be added to the existing tariffs of 20%on the US imports of China, carrying the total effective rate to 54%, as of April 9, closer to Trump’s campaign promise of a 60%rate.
An initial estimate indicated that sweeping measures could raise the average tariff fees of the United States to “levels not seen since the early twentieth century,” said Tai Hui, APAC Market Chief Protection in JP Morgan Asset Management, warning that commercial policy ads could weigh on global growth.
The tariff shock for China would be “significantly greater and more widespread” than in Commercial War 1.0, said Robin Xing, Chinese chief economist of Morgan Stanley.
Although Beijing is likely to set an additional policy support if tariffs quickly slow down the country’s economic growth, such measures can “partially compensate for the tariff shock,” Xing added.
China could suffer an economic blow of 0.5 to 1 percentage point of its gross domestic product, according to the estimates of Julian Evans-Pritchard, Chief of Economy of China in Capital Economics, depending on their exchange levels.
Beijing is likely to respond with forceful but proportional measures that can go beyond the increases in the rate with steps aimed at US companies that depend on the China market, said Stephen Olson, visiting the senior partner at the Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“The United States and China go to a negotiating table where they will try to achieve some kind of great treatment in a wide range of problems,” he said, although he said things are expected to get worse before improving.
Quick reaction
Other countries have joined China to express their dissatisfaction with tariff measures.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Ottawa will fight tariffs “with purpose and strength”, since his government prepares a complete set of countermeasures that will be announced on Thursday.
The interim president of South Korea, Han Duck-Soo, ordered emergency support measures for industries and companies that will be affected, including the automobile industry, ordering officials that actively negotiate with Washington to minimize the impact of additional taxes.
Separately, the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described Trump’s tariffs as a “bad decision” and said the measures were not an “act of a friend”, although he ruled out responding with reciprocal encumbrances against the United States.
The Japanese Ministry of Commerce said that it would establish a working group to study the impact of the new tariffs, which Trump said he would amount to 24% for Japan, while leaving all the options on the table to respond to strong tasks.
“We need to decide what is best for Japan, and more effective, in a careful but bold and fast way,” said Commerce Minister Yoji Muto, at a press conference.
A previously announced 25% tariff in imported cars entered into force on Thursday, and the Japanese automotive industry is expected to be among the most affected due to its dependence on the demand of the United States.
Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtran Shinawatra said the Government will take the initiative to design short -term measures to deal with the impact on manufacturers and exporters of 36% of the rate, while planning to negotiate with the United States.
The European Union said that it is preparing more countermeasures if negotiations with the United States fail, said President Ursula Von der Leyen in a live broadcast, while adding that the EU is ready to support efforts to make the global commercial system more fair.
– Evelyn Cheng from CNBC contributed to this report.
