Late on May 8, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC), stated that China will have to take necessary countermeasures against US plans to raise tariffs on Chinese commodities from 10 percent to 25 percent. According to the MOC, it will not be in the interests of the peoples of the two countries and of the world if the US escalates trade frictions.
At the invitation of Robert E. Lighthizer, the US trade representative, and Steven Mnuchin, US treasury secretary, Liu He, Chinese vice premier and chief of the Chinese side in the China-US trade talks, will visit the US for the 11th round of high-level economic and trade consultations on May 9-10.
Earlier on May 8, Geng Shuang, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), stated that China hopes the US will work with China to meet each other halfway, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns and strive for a mutually beneficial agreement on the basis of mutual respect and equality. He said that this is in line with the interests of both sides and is also the shared expectation of the international community. China considers that mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit are the prerequisite and basis for both parties to reach an agreement, while raising tariffs will not solve anything, he added.