BEIJING: China will respond firmly if the United States insists on escalating trade tensions, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said further tariffs were ready to kick in if no deal was reached at June’s G20 summit.
Trump has repeatedly said he is getting ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Osaka summit at the end of June, but China has not confirmed it.
Trump said last week he would decide after the meeting of the leaders of the world’s largest economies whether to carry out a threat to impose tariffs on at least $300 billion in Chinese goods.
On Monday, Trump said he was ready to impose another round of punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if he cannot make progress in trade talks with Xi in Osaka.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (pictured) again would not be drawn on confirming a Xi-Trump meeting at G20, saying information would be released once it was available to the ministry.
“China does not want to fight a trade war, but we are not afraid of fighting a trade war,” he said, adding China’s door was open to talks based on equality.
“If the United States only wants to escalate trade frictions, we will resolutely respond and fight to the end.”
Tensions between Washington and Beijing rose sharply after the Trump administration accused China of having reneged on promises to make structural economic changes during months of trade talks. — Reuters
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