BEIJING – China is preparing a range of responses to planned US tariffs andwill stand up to protectionism, but still hopes for dialogue, Beijing’sambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Thursday.
Zhang Xiangchen said China was considering a WTO complaint against thepackage of tariffs that President Donald Trump was expected to announcelater on Thursday.
“This is a legitimate right for China to do that. But I would not excludeother options because, if the flood approaches, you have to bank up to keepit out,” he told Reuters.
Zhang spoke before a senior White House official said Trump would sign amemorandum later on Thursday to potentially slap tariffs on $50 billion ofChinese imports over forced transfer of intellectual property.
The announcement is the first in a string of US trade restrictions to beaimed squarely at China.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday the tariffswould target China’s high-technology sector and could also includerestrictions on Chinese investments in the United States.
Trump’s protectionist trade policies have already caused a global outcrythis year.
In January, he slapped steep import tariffs on solar panels and washingmachines and this month worldwide steel and aluminium tariffs havefollowed, justified by a claim to “national security” under a Cold War-eralaw.
The European Union, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brazil and South Korea wonexemptions from the steel and aluminium tariffs, Canada and Mexico,Lighthizer said on Thursday.
Asked about the exemptions, Zhang said that “appeasement of protectionism”would not work. “If you surrender to protectionism, you will lose yourcredibility.”
The United States hopes that the national security claim will make thesteel and aluminium tariffs immune to a challenge, but Zhang said theyfailed to pass the WTO test of being “essential” for national security.
“No one has seen the essential national security rationale behind the USmeasures,” he said. “Even the senior officials of the United States fail tohide the real reasons.” – Agencies