BEIJING: China warned Sunday that it was ready to hit back if the US damaged its economic interests, fueling fears of a trade war after President Donald Trump unveiled tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Trump’s announcement on Thursday sparked a flurry of counter-threats from other nations. But Washington’s main trade rival had avoided any overt warnings of potential retaliation until now.
“China doesn’t want a trade war with the United States,” Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, told a news conference on Sunday, the eve of the rubber-stamp parliament’s annual session.
“But if the US takes actions that hurt Chinese interests, China will not sit idly by,” Zhang said. An official English-language interpreter added the phrase, “and will take necessary measures.”
Zhang warned that “policies informed by misjudgment or wrong perceptions will hurt relations and bring consequences no side wants to see.”
Trump’s announcement came as President Xi Jinping’s top economic aide, Liu He, met US officials at the White House to discuss the fraught economic relationship.
During his visit, according to the official Xinhua news agency, Liu and his hosts “agreed that the two countries should settle their trade disputes by cooperation rather than confrontation.”
Since announcing plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, Trump has shrugged off threats from other nations, boasting on Friday that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”
China has been the main target of Trump’s anger over the US trade deficit since his presidential campaign, but its steel and aluminum exports to the United States are minimal.
While China is the world’s largest steel producer, it accounts for less than one percent of US imports and sells only 10 percent of its wrought aluminum abroad.
Steel producers in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey rely far more heavily on the US market.
“The American action to put sanctions on other countries’ reasonable steel and aluminum exports in the name of harming national security is groundless,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.
Some US allies, like Canada and Australia, had hoped to be spared the tariffs. A major South Korean business lobby, the Federation of Korean Industries, said Sunday it sent letters to US Congress members and officials seeking an exemption.
A US official said Friday possible exemptions to the measures would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Australia warned that a trade conflict could put the brakes on global economic growth.
“That’s what concerns me, if we continue to see an escalation of rhetoric and, ultimately, action around tariffs applying for imports and exports across multiple economies... this will lead to a slowdown in growth,” trade minister Steve Ciobo told Sky News Australia Sunday.
Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric on Saturday, threatening a tax on cars from the EU if it takes retaliatory measures.
On Friday European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU was drawing up measures against leading US brands such as Levi’s and Harley-Davidson.
China ‘won’t sit idly by’ if US harms trade
China ‘won’t sit idly by’ if US harms trade
OPEC+ approves gradual output increase from April amid market uncertainty
RIYADH: Eight OPEC+ producers agreed to raise oil output gradually from April, citing healthy market fundamentals and a stable global economic outlook, after ministers met virtually to assess market conditions and determine future supply policy.
Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman approved a production increase of 206,000 barrels per day for April, according to a statement.
The increase marks the start of a gradual unwinding of 1.65 million barrels per day in voluntary reductions introduced in April 2023 to shore up prices.
The move comes as the US-Israeli conflict with OPEC+ member Iran and Tehran’s retaliation have disrupted shipments in the Middle East. Oil, gas and other cargoes moving through the Strait of Hormuz have faced interruptions since Feb. 28 after shipowners received warnings from Iran that the area was closed to navigation, Reuters reported.
In a statement released after the talks, the eight nations cited a “steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories,” as the rationale for the measured production increase.
The statement stressed that the full 1.65 million bpd “may be returned in part or in full subject to evolving market conditions and in a gradual manner.”
They also stressed they retain flexibility to increase, pause or reverse the supply hike if needed. That includes the option of reinstating cuts announced in November 2023, when several members pledged additional voluntary reductions totaling 2.2 million barrels per day.
The producers reiterated their commitment to the broader Declaration of Cooperation and said compliance with output targets, including voluntary adjustments, will continue to be monitored by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee.
The group also reaffirmed plans to compensate for any overproduction recorded since January 2024, saying the phased increase would allow participating countries to accelerate those efforts.
Brent crude futures jumped on Feb. 27 to $73 per barrel, the highest level since July, amid fears of a wider Middle East conflict and potential supply disruptions through Hormuz, which accounts for more than 20 percent of global oil transit, Reuters reported.
Oil prices are expected to rise, with Barclays lifting its Brent crude forecast to around $100 a barrel from $80 a day earlier, while analysts said prices could jump by as much as $20 per barrel when trading resumes on March 2 if tensions escalate further.
The eight countries will continue holding monthly reviews of market conditions, conformity and compensation levels, with the next meeting scheduled for April 5.
