China’s government warned on Monday that countries negotiating trade deals with US President Donald Trump would be hit with countermeasures if they harmed China’s interests.<\/p>\n
The statement came amid a trade war ignited by Donald Trump’s steep tariffs, to which China responded in kind, a period when both countries are vying to persuade their trade partners.<\/p>\n
In a Q&A section published on its website, the Ministry of Commerce said the US was imposing arbitrary tariffs on all its trade partners while simultaneously forcing others into “reciprocal” tariff negotiations. The spokesperson urged countries to “stand on the right side of history” and protect international trade rules.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said, “China is resolutely opposed to any party reaching an agreement at the expense of China’s interests.” He added, “Should such a situation occur, China will not accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures.”<\/p>\n
The warning came as Japanese officials held trade talks in Washington during a 90-day pause on tariffs targeting countries other than China. Japan’s trade envoy met with Trump last Wednesday, and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato is reportedly set to meet with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited three Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia) to strengthen economic ties with the region.<\/p>\n
Bessent had previously floated the idea of striking deals with other governments before pressuring China. Earlier this month, he stated, “We can probably strike a deal with our allies. They are good military allies, they are not perfect economic allies. Then we can approach China as a group.”<\/p>\n
The world’s two largest economies have hit each other with high tariffs. Tariffs applied, including those imposed before Trump’s second term, reached up to 245% on China’s exports to the US and up to 125% on US shipments to China. Most economists believe the Chinese government will struggle to meet its gross domestic product growth target of “around 5%” if tariffs continue.<\/p>\n
Analysts expect Beijing to increase support for the economy while trying to prevent countries from uniting against China. The Ministry of Finance will begin issuing the first ultra-long special treasury bonds this week, earlier than last year, for spending on infrastructure projects and consumer subsidies, among other items. It plans to raise 1.3 trillion yuan ($178 billion) by issuing such bonds this year, 300 billion yuan more than in 2024.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Chinese banks left benchmark lending rates unchanged for the sixth consecutive month. The People’s Bank of China said the one-year loan prime rate (LPR), the corporate lending benchmark, was kept at 3.1%, while the five-year mortgage reference was maintained at 3.6%. LPRs are calculated by the PBOC each month based on quotes submitted by 20 commercial banks.<\/p>\n
Some analysts expect the central bank to support lending activity by first cutting the reserve requirement ratio, the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve. Cutting interest rates fully risks widening the gap with US interest rates and fueling capital outflows from China. Record low interest margins also put pressure on commercial banks’ profitability last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China’s government warned on Monday that countries negotiating trade deals with US President Donald Trump would be hit with countermeasures if they harmed China’s interests. The statement came amid a trade war ignited by Donald Trump’s steep tariffs, to which China responded in kind, a period when both countries are vying to persuade their trade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[529,6964,9377,4050,4614,2360,9376,6609,787],"class_list":["post-9089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-china","tag-gdp-growth","tag-lending-rates","tag-monetary-policy","tag-peoples-bank-of-china","tag-tariffs","tag-trade-countermeasures","tag-trade-negotiations","tag-trade-war"],"yoast_head":"\n