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China condemns ‘unilateral and arbitrary’ US tariffs

Wednesday, 19 February 2025 2:24 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 19 February 2025 2:24 AM ]

China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Li Chenggang

China has firmly condemned the sweeping tariffs threatened or imposed by US President Donald Trump on its products, saying they disrupt global trade.

China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday slammed US tariffs as unilateral and arbitrary, adding that they amounted to a blatant violation of WTO’s rules.

Li Chenggang warned that new US tariffs trigger a global economic shock, as they increase economic uncertainty and raise the risk of market distortions, or even a global recession.

China's ambassador made the remarks at the first meeting of the year of the global trade body's decision-making General Council.

Li urged Washington to roll back the tariffs and commit to multilateral dialogue based on equity, mutual benefit, and respect.

"The world faces a series of tariff shocks," said Li.

"The US has imposed or threatened tariffs on its trading partners, including China, unilaterally and arbitrarily, blatantly violating WTO rules. China firmly opposes such measures,” he added.

"These tariff shocks heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession."