Commenting on US President Donald Trump’s threat of an additional $100 billion in tariffs on imports from China, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said China was prepared to adopt “comprehensive countermeasures” in its dispute with the US, adding that, “China does not want a trade war, but we are not afraid to fight a trade war.”
The MOC spokesman went on to state, “The economic and trade conflict this time was provoked by the US, and, in essence, is a challenge by American unilateralism against global multilateralism, by American protectionism against global free trade." He said China will continue to expand reforms, to uphold the multilateral trading system and promote the liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment.
The MOC official also said that months have passed without any negotiations between fiscal and economic officials from the governments of the two sides, adding that, against the backdrop of the Section 301 investigation and the US proposal for another $100 billion of tariffs, China will not enter negotiations.