CHINA has imposed additional tariffs on imported goods originating from the United States, from the previously declared 34 per-cent to 84 per-cent, but in a six chapter ‘White Paper’ declared its openness to resolve differences with the US.
The new tariffs, announced by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, came into effect on Wednesday April 10, a day after the US Donald Trump administartion imposed a record 104 per-cent tariff on US imports from China.
China’s Customs Tariff Commission said China sees the excalation of tariffs againt it by the US as ‘a mistake on top of a mistake ‘ and this infringes upon its legitimate rights and interests and gravely undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system.
As such, the commission said China urges the US to immediately correct its ‘wrong practices’, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against it and properly resolve differences with it through equal dialogue on the basis of equal respect.
On Wednesday April 10, China’s State Council Information also issued a White Paper to clarify facts about he China-US economic and trade relations and to elaborate its position on relevant issues.
The White Paper asserts that China has strictly complied with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO and fulfilled its commitments in the China-US Phase-One Economic and Trade Agreement covering technology transfer, trade in food and agricultural products, financial services and exchange rate matters and provision of adequate measures to faciliate China’s efforts to expand procurement and imports.
The US, on the other hand, failed to meet its obligations under the agreement, according to the White Paper.
The US, as a key builder and participant of the international economic order and multilateral trading regime after World War II should take the lead in observing multilateral t addrade rules and properly handle trade friction with other WTO members through the dispute settlement mechanism within the WTO framework, the White Paper adds.
Nevertheless, China and the US can resolve their differences through equal-footed dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation, adding that as the world’s top two economies, their economic and trade cooperation is so huge, substantive and broad-based involving many players and therefore it is only natural for some differences to exist, it says.
“The best way to address to address problems and bridge gaps is to seek paths for mutually beneficial cooperation through equal-footed dialogue. China-US cooperation is of critical importance to the best interests of the people’s of the two countries and will also exert a far-reaching impact on world peace and development. History has shown cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation results in mutual loss,” it adds.
The White Paper highlights that both China and the US play important roles in the global economic system, with both countries accounting for more than one-third of the global economy and almost a quarter of the world’s population and furthermore, their bilateral trade accounts for about one-fifth of the global trade and therefore they can work together in the rationalisation of global economic governance rules to adapt to the evolution of productivity.
By DELI-SHARON OSO
In Beijing, China
