China will fight US “at any cost” after President Donald Trump mulls $100bn in extra tariffs
President Donald Trump has upped the ante in the back and forth with China, saying he was now mulling an additional $100bn (£71.3bn) of tariffs “in light of China’s unfair retaliation”.
In response, China’s commerce ministry said it will battle the US “at any cost”, and that if Washington continued down the path of what it had deemed protectionism, China would fight back firmly “at any cost”.
The ministry said in a statement that if the US disregards opposition from China and the international community and barrels on with “unilateralism and trade protectionism”, the Chinese side will take them on until the end at any cost.
“We don’t want a trade war, but we aren’t afraid of fighting one,” it added.
Read more: Trade war between the US and China is getting hotter by the day
Further tariffs were being considered against earlier US trade actions, which had included a proposed $50bn of tariffs on Chinese goods, the US President had said in a statement.
Earlier in the week, Trump had denied the US was in a trade war with China, as markets fell on the back of retaliatory $50bn tariffs unveiled by Beijing.
The tit-for-tat moves have been causing some market jitters of late.
Beijing confirmed a 25 per cent levy on US vehicles and “soft” agricultural products including beef, soybeans, wheat and orange juice, which sent stocks in both countries down.
As a result, Trump had instructed the Office of the US Trade Representative to consider whether $100bn of extra tariffs could be “appropriate”, and if that was the case, which products they should be slapped on.
The President has also told agricultural officials to implement a plan to protect US farmers and agricultural interests.
Read more: European markets tumble