The US on Tuesday described China's retaliation against its tariffs a big mistake, as a global trade war ignited by President Donald Trump's sweeping levies showed few signs of abating, even as global markets steadied after days of carnage.
DAILY POST reports that to what it called “blackmail” after Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs on US imports from the world's No. 2 economy to more than 100% in response to China's decision to match “reciprocal” duties Trump announced last week.
China's fast and hardline approach contrasted with more emollient moves by other Asian countries.
Similarly, the European Union is also consulting with member states on how hard to punch back against Trump's tariffs without causing more harm to its consumers and exporters.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in an interview with reporters, blasted Beijing, stressing that any US negotiations with other countries on tariffs were the result of them knocking on Washington's door and not due to global market turmoil.
“I think it was a big mistake, this Chinese escalation,” he said. “Everything is on the table,” Bessent said.
Meanwhile, China on Tuesday vowed to fight to the end.
China's Commerce Ministry said that the US side's threat to escalate tariffs against China was a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side's blackmailing nature.
Also, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a phone call with China's Premier Li Qiang called on Beijing to and stressed the need to support a fair trading system founded on a level playing field.
The two also discussed setting up a mechanism to track possible trade diversion caused by the tariffs, von der Leyen's office said, as the EU fears China will redirect cheap exports from the US to Europe.
