Beijing justified its moves as defensive actions and accused the US of introducing new restrictive measures targeting China since talks between the two in Madrid in September, according to a Ministry of Commerce statement on Sunday. Last month, the US Commerce Department unveiled a dramatic expansion of its export controls, which closed loopholes in current measures to block Beijing from cutting-edge chips.
China said the US should stop threatening it with higher tariffs and urged further negotiations to resolve outstanding trade issues, adding it will not hesitate to retaliate should Washington persist in its measures against Beijing.
President Donald Trump on Friday announced an additional 100% tariff on China as well as export controls on “any and all critical software” beginning Nov 1, hours after threatening to cancel an upcoming meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. That came after China added new port fees on US ships, started an antitrust investigation into Qualcomm Inc, and unveiled sweeping new curbs on its exports of rare earths and other critical materials.
