‘Threats, blackmail not the way to deal with China’: Beijing says ‘open to talks with US’ on tariffs | World News

China’s commerce ministry on Thursday said that while Beijing is open to dialogue with Washington, it must take place on the basis of mutual respect and equality.

Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China, ministry spokesperson He Yongqian told reporters during a press briefing.

China-US Trade War

Earlier on Wednesday, Washington and Beijing hit each other with tit-for-tat moves. The thread of chain reactions began with the US president announcing his sweeping reciprocal tariffs on April 3, imposing a 34 per cent levy on Beijing.

Days after this, China announced a 34 per cent retaliatory tariff on American goods, inviting ire from Trump. The US president said that this move from China was a “wrong” one.

“China played it wrong, they panicked – The one thing they cannot afford to do!” the US president wrote in a post on his Truth Social network.

Again, on Tuesday, Trump struck China with 104 per cent additional tariffs. He had earlier warned that he was awaiting a response from China over the tariff war before implementing duties exceeding 100 per cent.

Soon as these US tariffs came into effect, China on Wednesday hiked its additional tariff on American goods from 34 per cent to 84 per cent. This levy came into effect on Thursday, April 10.

Additionally, China also added 12 US entities to its export control list, while including 6 American entities to its “unreliable entity” list.

Hours later, Trump imposed a whopping 125 per cent levy on China, citing Beijing’s “lack of respect” to the world’s markets. “China will realise that the days of ripping off the USA and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social network.

The Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson reiterated that Beijing will “follow through to the end” if the US insists on its own way.