China is staying calm and rational in the face of an escalating trade dispute with the United States, Chinese state media claimed in editorials over the weekend.
That came after Beijing announced on Friday that it was preparing to retaliate in the trade war with new tariffs on about $60 billion worth of U.S. goods.
“China’s countermeasures are rational, and the emphasis can be found in their quantitative and qualitative aspects,” said the Global Times, a nationalistic newspaper linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s import taxes would range in rates from 5 percent to 25 percent, the country’s Ministry of Commerce said in an announcement on its website. Many of the goods are agricultural-related, with others on various metals and chemicals.
“China’s recent counter-response is a restrained one, and the country is reserving the right and its ability to announce more against the U.S. China’s countermeasures aim to minimize the detrimental impact on domestic production and living standards. China is balancing short-term gain with long-term interests, risk versus opportunity, along with core and marginal interests,” the Global Times said in the op-ed on Saturday.
The tax rate countermeasures were made after listening to public opinion and thoroughly evaluating potential impacts, the newspaper claimed.
“Public welfare, domestic business stamina, maintenance of the global industrial chain, and other factors were considered when deciding each countermeasure,” it said.
China declared it will impose the new tariffs if the U.S. places more tariffs on Chinese imports. President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed new tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that could potentially be 25 percent levies.
Chinese state media also emphasized the official position that trade disputes should be resolved through discussions. As Communist Party-owned China Daily put it: “China has long insisted that trade disputes should be settled through talks and a trade war is naturally the last thing it wants.”
“In the face of the bullying of the Donald Trump administration, Beijing must remain sober-minded and never let emotion override reason when deciding how to respond to the US administration’s unreasonable and insensible self-promoting hullabaloo,” China Daily said in its Sunday editorial.
—CNBC’s Michael Sheetz contributed to this report.
