China Urges US to Fully Cancel Trump-Era Tariffs Amid Ongoing Trade Tensions

China Urges US to Fully Cancel Trump-Era Tariffs: China's Ministry of Commerce urged Washington on April 13 to drop all retaliatory tariffs imposed under the Trump administration after the latest US decision to exempt certain electronics from the tariffs.

“We urge the US to take meaningful steps to correct its mistakes, completely cancel the wrong practice of reciprocal tariffs, and return to the correct path of mutual respect,” a ministry spokesperson said, as reported by AFP.

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Quoting a Chinese proverb, the ministry added: “The bell on a tiger’s neck can only be untied by the person who tied it,” signaling that it is up to the U.S. to undo the damage caused by its trade policy.

This followed a weekend announcement from the US that tariffs were being lifted on smartphones, laptops, and other electronics. This followed a move in what has generally been considered a larger trade dispute, resulting in tariffs placed on hundreds of billions of goods exported to and imported from either country.

China said it was still assessing the effect of these exemptions but said that most of its exports to the US were still subject to tariffs as high as 145 percent, while China was also excluded from the 90-day suspension granted to other countries.

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Escalating Trade Tensions

On Friday, in retaliation for the US measures, China raised its own tariffs on imports from the US, raising the average from 84 percent to 125 percent. This follows the US's decision to raise duties on Chinese products to a 145 percent average.

China's commerce ministry issued a strong statement reiterating its resolve against ongoing trade tensions, clearly stating that it will not yield.

“If the US continues to play the tariff numbers game, China will ignore it,” the ministry stated. “But if the US insists on significantly infringing upon China’s interests, we will resolutely counterattack and fight to the end.”

Meanwhile, Beijing has called on nations to oppose what it terms the US "unilateralism and economic bullying" while it actively seeks to develop alternative trade partnerships to dilute the negative impact of the stalemate.

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