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The Chinese government fought back against the Trump government, accusing the US president of "brutalizing" his tactics of aggression in escalating trade conflict between the two countries, saying he "would rise" if a large-scale commercial war broke out.
"China does not want a trade war, but would react if it broke out," said Zhong Shan, China's Minister of Commerce, in a statement.
Until now, the Trump administration has applied tariffs on Chinese goods worth $ 250 billion, affecting more than 5,000 products. The president, however, said he was ready to "move to 500" – a familiar term referring to tariffs on all US imports from China.
Many observers have now perceived what was originally perceived as a meaningless threat after the announcement of the latest round of tariffs in late September, after which Trump doubled his threats of taxing all Chinese imports. Zhong said such threats would not lead China to backtrack and offer concessions to the United States.
"The United States believes that as long as the United States raises its tariffs, China will decline, they do not know the history and culture of China," he said.
"This inflexible country has been the victim of many years of foreign abuse, but has never succumbed to it even under the most difficult conditions," he said.
"The United States must not underestimate the determination and will of China."
Zhong's comments came just hours after President Trump again accused China of taking advantage of US trade.
"We can not have a one-way street," Trump told a press conference to discuss the resignation of UN ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday afternoon. .
"It has to be a two-way street, it's been a one-way street for 25 years, we have to make it a two-way street and we have to take advantage of it," he told reporters. .
As tariffs rise, communications between the two parties has become increasingly tense in recent weeks. In September, China canceled mid-level talks and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exchanged strained words with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week. a trip to Beijing.
"Recently, while the United States was steadily intensifying its trade frictions with China, they also adopted a series of actions in favor of the Taiwan issue that undermine China's rights and interests and criticized without China's domestic and foreign policy foundation, "said Wang at a press conference.
"We ask the US side to stop this kind of wrong action."
Pompeo countered, saying the US had "great concerns about China's actions."
A currency war is getting ready?
Far from escalating trade tensions, the US Treasury has expressed further concerns about China's devaluation of the renminbi, an action that it says is being used by Beijing to strengthen business relationships by making Chinese products cheaper.
"When looking at trade issues, there is no doubt that we want to make sure that China does not proceed with competitive devaluations," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
"We will absolutely want to make sure that, under any trade agreement, this currency must be part of it."
Trump has frequently criticized China for its belief that Beijing is artificially weakening its currency to make Chinese exports more competitive, which it says is hurting the US economy.
In August, he claimed that Beijing was a "currency manipulator".
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