China vows ‘forceful’ countermeasures as U.S. tariffs kick in

China’s foreign ministry reiterated Wednesday that Beijing will take “resolute and forceful” measures to protect its own interests, after net total tariffs of 104% on Chinese imports into the U.S. took effect.

“If the U.S. genuinely wants to resolve the problem through dialogue and negotiation, it should show an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing.

Echoing the commerce ministry’s comments on Tuesday, Lin said that “if the U.S. insists on fighting a tariff war and a trade war, China will “definitely fight to the end.”

Last Friday, China’s Finance Ministry announced 34% in additional tariffs on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10, in retaliation for Trump imposing new levies of 34% on China.

The across-the-board tariffs followed two previous rounds of 10%-15% tariffs, targeting mostly agricultural and energy products imported from the U.S. 

According to Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, Trump’s tariffs would effectively wipe out Chinese exporters’ profits once U.S. import duties passed the 35% mark. After that, Chinese exporters will not sell to the U.S. at all, she said.

In a separate official white paper released by the State Council Information Office on Thursday, the Chinese authority said “if the U.S. insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China will resolutely counter and fight the U.S. to the end,” according to a CNBC translation.

“The U.S. uses tariffs as a weapon to exert extreme pressure and seek selfish interests. This is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying,” Beijing said in the white paper.

The Chinese administration added that raising tariffs would not help with U.S. trade surplus issues, but will instead prompt great volatility in financial markets, exacerbating inflationary pressure and undermining American industries.

Nonetheless, Beijing said it hoped the U.S. would “meet halfway” and immediately lift the unilateral trade barriers, while reiterating its openness to strengthen dialogue, manage difference and boost collaboration.

China alleged it fulfilled the terms under the “Phase 1” trade deal that Trump struck with Beijing during his first presidential term, while claiming the U.S. violated certain mandates in the agreement. CNBC has reached out to the White House for comment regarding these claims.

The deal required China to ramp up purchases of U.S. goods by $200 billion over a two-year period, but Beijing failed to meet its targets as the Covid-19 pandemic hit.