U.S. 'opening fire' on the world with tariff threats, says China

BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States is "opening fire" on the world with its tariffs, China warned on Thursday, saying it will respond to the moment dispute.

The Trump Administration's tariffs on $ 34 billion of Chinese imports are due to go into effect at 0401 GMT on Friday, which is just after midday in Beijing.

U.S. President Donald Trump has risen to $ 450 billion worth of Chinese goods if China retaliates, with the row of markets, stocks, currencies and the global trade of commodities from soybeans to coal.

China has said it would not be "fire the first shot", but its customs agency made its way into the United States of America.

Speaking at a weekly news conference, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng warned the proposed U.S. tariffs would hit international supply chains, including foreign companies in the world's second-largest economy.

"If the US implements tariffs, they will actually be adding tariffs to companies from all countries, including Chinese and U.S. companies," Gao said.

"U.S. Measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the U.S. is opening fire on the entire world, including itself, "he said.

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" Asked whether US companies would be targeted with "qualitative measures" in China in a trade war, Gao said the government would protect the legal rights of foreigners in the country.

"We will continue to assess the potential impact of the US-initiated trade war on companies and will help companies possible mitigate shocks."

Gao said China's foreign trade was expected to continue on a stable path in the second half of the year, but a Sino-US full-blown fear trade war would be a blow to Chinese exports and its economy.

Foreign companies accounted for $ 20 billion, or 59 percent, of the $ 34 billion of exports from China which would be subject to new U.S. tariffs, with U.S. firms accounting for a significant portion of that 59 percent, Gao said.

China's plans to impose tariffs on hundreds of U.S. exports, including soybeans, sorghum and cotton, threatening U.S farmers in Trump, Texas and Iowa.

Chinese buying of soybeans is a must-do-it-all-of-a-kind-of-a-kind-of-a-kind, while the country's top-selling meat.

In the latest sign that the risk of a ship is hitting trade, a vessel carrying a U.S. coal and heading for China was diverted on Wednesday to Singapore.

GLOBAL RISKS

The World Trade Organization warned against the backdrop of global economic recovery, with their effects already starting to show.

European officials have told Reuters that China has been forced to leave the European Union, but they had insisted on a new position.

Chinese stocks slipped on Thursday and the yuan gave back some of its recent gains against the dollar.

China's central bank moved to calm jittery markets on Tuesday after the yuan dropped through the psychologically significant 6.7 to the dollar mark, hitting its lowest in almost a year.

A trade war with the United States could hit China's export machine, with recent data pointing to fatigue as credit expansion slowed down and domestic demand looked to be softening.

China's second-quarter economic growth is expected to have slowed down from the previous quarter, as Reuters poll showed, as policymakers seek to mitigate the impact of a de-risking drive and trade dispute with the United States.

CHINA MEDIA LAMBASTES U.S.

On Thursday, China's state media continued to lambaste the United States.

The widely read Global Times tabloid said in an editorial that China must prepare for containment by the United States.

"With strong manufacturing capability and huge market potential, China's development is difficult to suppress. But the country will encounter more barriers in future development, to which we should learn to adapt, "it said.

"While the trump administration is anxious about gains and losses, Chinese people have a future in China's future."

Both Chinese and U.S. business sources in China said that it was possible that the tariffs could be warned.

"I'm not, for now," said Tu Xinquan, a trade expert at Beijing's University of International Business and Economics, who has advised the Chinese government.

A US industry source said: "There is a 99 percent chance that tariffs go into force on Friday."

"Frankly, I do not know what action China could take at the moment that would allow the US to Not imposed tariffs, "the US source said, adding that there was no evidence the two governments had any substantive commitment to the time that could lead to the shelving of duties.

A senior Western diplomat told Reuters that there was no sign of any talks at the time between the two countries, even via back channels.

The industry source said China had been unable to address the Trump administration's concerns about Chinese government, SOE reform, and China's restrictions on cloud computing industry.