China vows retaliation on Trump tariffs, says 'no winners in trade war'

China has urged Washington to engage in "frank dialogue and strengthen corporation".

Updated on: Feb 2, 2025, 09:52:13 IST

By HT News Desk

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After Canada and Mexico, China also reacted to the additional 10 per cent tariff imposed on Beijing by US President Donald Trump and said that it was a 'serious violation' of the World Trade Organisation rules.

Trump said that he imposed the tariffs to fight the national emergency over illegal immigration and fentanyl. (AFP)

The Chinese commerce ministry said that it will "challenge US tariffs under WTO".

In its statement, Beijing said that there are "no winners in a trade war or tariff war". It added that the additional duties would "inevitably affect and damage future bilateral cooperation on drug control".

Earlier, US President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent on tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports, and a 10 per cent on goods from China to address what he termed a "national emergency" over immigration and fentanyl.

Follow tariff war live updates

In its response further, China has urged Washington to engage in "frank dialogue and strengthen corporation". While firmly opposing the US tariffs, China vowed to launch "corresponding countermeasures" against Trump's move.

China was already facing tariffs, on top of which now Trump has imposed another 10 per cent.

ALSO READ | Tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on Mexico, Canada and China | What are they?

Last week as well, China had said that in the face of Trump's tariff threats, Beijing would protect is "national interests".

"We have always believed that there are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, adding that China was "firmly committed to safeguarding national interests".

Notably, Trump had backed his decision saying that it was aimed at stopping the illegal immigration and smuggling of chemicals used for fentanyl.

ALSO READ | Canada's Justin Trudeau slaps 25% retaliatory tariffs on US, asks Canadians to go local

Right after taking charge of the White House, Trump had voiced his consideration of imposing the tariff on Chinese imports from February to stop the flow of fentanyl supplied from Beijing to Mexico and Canada.

His claims were further supported by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) which identified that the global fentanyl supply chain "often starts with chemical companies based in China". The DEA had said that the highly addictive drug was one of the biggest drug threats in the US.

(with agency inputs)

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HT News Desk
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