May be forced to take counter measures, no winner in trade war: China's envoy at UN on US tariffs

China lashed out at the US over tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, saying Beijing "may be forced to take countermeasures" and stressed that there is "no winner in a trade war".

"We are firmly opposed to this unwarranted increase and we do believe that this is in violation of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules," China's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Fu Cong said.


Fu was addressing a press conference here Monday as China assumed the rotating presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of February.

In response to a question about the Trump administration imposing 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the US, he said China is filing a complaint at the WTO and Beijing "may be forced to take countermeasures."

On Saturday, the White House announced that Trump was implementing a 25 per cent additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 per cent additional tariff on imports from China.

"President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country," the White House had said.

The Chinese envoy emphasised that "there is no winner in a trade war and we do hope that the US should look at its own problems, really solve... find a solution that is beneficial to itself and also to the whole world."

"Frankly speaking, I don't think that raising tariffs is beneficial to the US itself," Fu said.

Noting that the "excuse" for raising tariffs is fentanyl, he said this is very much unwarranted.

"China is one of the countries that has the most stringent regulations on fentanyl" and on all fentanyl-related substances.

"On this issue, the US should approach this issue more from its own perspective. For instance, look at the demand side of fentanyl rather than shifting the blame onto others. I don't think that will be good for the US itself," he said.

Under its presidency, China will hold a high-level debate on February 18 on 'Practicing multilateralism, reforming and improving global governance' which will be chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Fu said China is extending invitations to foreign ministers of UNSC members as well as to non-members to attend the meeting.

He said if US Secretary of State Marco Rubio comes to New York for the meeting, "that will be a very good opportunity for the two foreign ministers to meet."

On how the deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing could impact work between the two countries at the UN, Fu said that the two biggest countries in the world, China and the US "have so much in common" and can cooperate.

He said that within the framework of the United Nations, there are global issues that require concerted efforts of the entire international community, and in particular countries like China and the United States, like anti-terrorism, anti-narcotics, non-proliferation and climate change.

"China and the US are the two biggest financial contributors to the UN so it is only natural that our two countries have some similar concerns on how to enhance the efficiency of the Secretariat and the UN's work," he said adding that there are many things that China and the US can work together.

"I do hope that despite all the rhetorics that we have heard from the American politicians, we can take a constructive, and I will emphasise, a professional approach to our work here in the United Nations because there are so many things that we can work together, and so much is at stake. If China and the US can work together and jointly, I'm sure we will be able to solve many problems and make the world a better place to live," he said.