China on Monday called for “jointly” opposing all forms of unilateralism and protectionism as US President Donald Trump refused to back down from tariffs imposed on allies and rivals alike, state media reported.
“The US’ practice of pursuing hegemony under the guise of reciprocity has sacrificed the legitimate interests of other nations to serve its own selfish purposes,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing.
Trump’s move “places ‘America First’ above international rules, and is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying,” Lin said, reacting to what Trump called “reciprocal” tariffs on imports from around the world.
“Development is a universal right for all countries, not a privilege for a select few,” he said. “Countries should uphold the principles of consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, adhere to genuine multilateralism, jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, and defend the international system centered around the UN and the multilateral trade system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core.”
The US has imposed 34% tariffs on Chinese imports, triggering a tit-for-tat 34% tariffs by Beijing on all the US imports. China has also filed a complaint against Trump administration at the WTO.
Trump’s decision has roiled markets across the world, but he has refused to back down.
“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters Sunday while flying on Air Force One from Florida to Washington, DC, saying he was not intentionally trying to engineer a market sell-off with his policies.
“We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had a stupid leadership that allowed this to happen. They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs, they moved it to Mexico, they moved it to Canada, they moved a lot of it to China, and it’s not sustainable,” he said, referring to the former administration led by President Joe Biden.