China accuses Trump of blackmail in trade tariffs row

China has accused US president Donald Trump of "blackmail" with the latest round of $200 billion (€173 billion) worth of additional tariffs on Chinese goods, and said it would fight back with "qualitative and quantitative" measures.

“Such a practice of extreme pressure and blackmailing deviates from the consensus reached by both sides on multiple occasions,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The latest tariffs mark a significant escalation in trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies.

Both Washington and Beijing have looked on course for open trade war after talks failed to resolve US complaints about China’s industrial policies, China’s $375 billion (€325 billion) US trade deficit and a lack of equal market access.

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“China will have no choice but to take comprehensive measures combining quantitative and qualitative ones to resolutely strike back,” the ministry said. “The United States has initiated a trade war and violated market regulations, and is harming the interests of not just the people of China and the US, but of the world.”

Mr Trump has described the latest measures as “retaliation”. Last week, he announced a 25 per cent tariff on up to $50 billion (€43 billion) of Chinese products, which prompted Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs on the same amount of US goods, mainly targeting soybean, aquatic and automobile products.

There have been reports that China is already talking to European and Japanese firms to shift contracts for Chinese goods and services away from US firms. The government is also exploring further dealings with local companies.

Fu Zhenzhen, an analyst with CnAgri, a Beijing-based agricultural consultancy, told local media that the trade war seemed to be driven by political purposes, but the situation was different now.

“For, the US farmers have already planted the soybean crop, which includes 30 million metric tons of soybean that are planned to be exported to China. If the US government can’t solve the issue by September when the crop would be ready for the harvest, there will be a huge problem for the US soybean industry,” said Mr Fu.

In commentaries, Chinese state media focused on the damage a trade war would do to both Chinese and US interests.

“It is US arrogance to believe that a trade war will exhaust China.

But the boot is on the other foot. Trade is mutually beneficial to both the US and China. Scuppering bilateral trade would cause similar suffering to both sides. This simple truth can never be wrong,” wrote the Global Times in an editorial in its English-language edition.

The state news agency Xinhua issued a combative commentary.

“First, China is emboldened. Were we not sufficiently emboldened enough, without sufficient research and judgment, nor enough force, China will certainly be able to face intimidation from Trump,” it said.

It referred to a recent surprise run of results in the World Cup in Russia.

“Argentina was held to a draw by Iceland and Germany lost to Mexico.

What does this mean? It means at least one point: in the world, there has never been an invincible opponent. You can lose the whole game because of one careless move. Trump, don’t think we haven’t warned you.”