China issued a warning Thursday that if the U.S. imposes costly new tariffs against its exports, then the Chinese government will retaliate and defend its interests.
“China will certainly take all necessary measures to resolutely defend its legitimate rights and interests” if the United States were to go through with imposing tariffs, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, CNN reported.
Trump is expected to announce imposing new tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese exports at 12:30 Thursday.
If the tariffs were implemented, this would be the first time Trump directly targeted China with trade sanctions. In previous measures, Trump has taken steps to impose tariffs on steel, aluminum, and solar panel imports, but has said those tariffs would apply to all imports.
In the past, China has said it doesn’t want to start a trade war, but warned that it would take “firm and necessary” countermeasures if necessary.
“It’s unrealistic and unreasonable to demand complete equality in trade,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. “We hope that both sides can sit down and talk calmly.”
