Trade dispute: China threatens USA with "fight to the finish"
China's Ministry of Commerce announced in Beijing that the People's Republic remains consistent in its position in the "trade and tariff war" with the United States : If it comes to "fighting," it will do so to the end. However, the Chinese government remains open to negotiations.
The comments were prompted by US President Donald Trump's threat a few days ago to impose an additional 100 percent tariff on imports from China to the United States starting November 1. The People's Republic had previously announced further restrictions on the export of rare earths , which are important raw materials for industrial companies in many sectors around the world.
China is the global market leader in rare earths, which are used in smartphones, fuel cells, medical devices such as X-ray machines, LCD screens, batteries, and motors.
Dispute over rare earthsOn Sunday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News that China had not notified the U.S. government about the new export controls on rare earths. "When we learned about this from public sources, we asked the Chinese for a phone call, and they postponed it," he said.
China has taken note of this fact, the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing announced. The export controls are legal and do not constitute an export ban. Applications that meet the requirements will be approved, it said.
However, companies have long complained that the complicated application procedures take weeks and months, with no guarantee of approval at the end.
Beijing further stated that the US could not, on the one hand, want to negotiate while, on the other, threatening new restrictions. They called on the administration in Washington to demonstrate a serious willingness to negotiate.
New front in the trade conflict - maritime shippingIn addition, port fees for US cargo ships announced by China in the trade dispute between the two largest economies have now come into effect. The special levies would be levied on US-owned, US-operated, US-built, or US-flagged ships. At the same time, the government in Beijing pointed out that ships built in China and those docked solely for repairs would be exempt.
Starting Tuesday, special levies will also apply in the United States to Chinese shipping companies whose freighters transport everything from Christmas toys to crude oil. The Trump administration had already threatened earlier this year to impose port fees on Chinese-owned cargo ships, as well as on transport vessels built or flagged in China. This was intended to reduce China's dominance in the global shipping industry and strengthen shipbuilding in the United States.
Asian stock markets on a downward trendThe latest developments also spooked investors on the Asian stock markets. After a long weekend, the Nikkei index in Tokyo plummeted by almost three percent to 46,761 points. Stock markets in China also gave up initial gains. In Taiwan and South Korea, the indices also turned negative.
se/pgr (rtr, dpa, afp, ap)
dw
