RIYADH: US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods are “abusive” and damaging to global supply chains, a diplomat from the Asian country to Saudi Arabia has said.
Speaking at a media roundtable held in the Chinese Embassy in Riyadh, Minister Counselor Ma Jian said his country’s government expresses its strong condemnation and firm rejection of the measures taken by President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the US government announced a three-month pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that had gone into effect — except those affecting China, which were raised to 125 percent, hours after Beijing boosted the duty on American goods to 84 percent.
Jian said the actions of the White House “violate basic economic rules and market principles and disregard the balance of interests reached in multilateral trade negotiations, and ignore the fact that the United States has long gained significantly from international trade.”
The official told Arab News: “The Chinese government expresses its strong condemnation and firm rejection of this action.”
He added: “The US’ abusive behavior by imposing tariffs seriously harms the trade system and the rules of the World Trade Organization and also harms the global economy.
“Moreover, the abusive imposition of tariffs also causes damage to global supply chains and the multilateral trading system.”
Jian stated that analysis of data from the World Trade Organization shows that under this US policy, the gap between countries will widen, with less developed countries suffering more severe consequences.
“We demand and hope that the US side stops this wrong behavior and acts in response to the calls of the peoples of the world to achieve mutual benefit and greater development of the global economy,” Jian told Arab News.
When asked what, if any steps China will take to mitigate the tensions amidst the trade war with the US following the recent retaliatory tariffs, the Minister Counselor stated: “We will follow the path that the President (Xi Jinping) affirmed — of mutual respect, peaceful deliberation, and cooperation for mutual benefit — as a sign of developing relations with the US.”
He added: “However, we will take a few measures to safeguard our legitimate and reasonable rights and interests.
“The nature of cooperation and dealings between countries is mutual benefit.”
Jian said the US is using tariffs “as a weapon to exert maximum pressure and advance selfish interests,” adding: “These are acts of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying.”
He went on to say that the “zero-sum game” the US has pursued under the pretext of pursuing “reciprocity” and “parity” is, by its very nature, a pursuit of “America First” and “American exceptionalism.”
The Minister Counselor added: “They aim to overthrow the existing international economic and trade order through tariffs.”
The diplomat went on to say: “They place American interests above the overall interests of the international community and serve American hegemony at the expense of the legitimate interests of other countries. They will inevitably be widely rejected by the international community.”
China-US trade in goods has historically grown rapidly since their diplomatic ties were established in 1979.
UN figures show that in 2024 the volume of trade in goods between the two reached $688.28 billion — 275 times the volume of the trade in 1979 and more than eight times the volume of trade in 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization.
In a regular press conference on April 8, foreign minister spokesperson Lin Jian said that China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate and lawful rights and interests.
“If the US decides not to care about the interests of the US itself, China, and the rest of the world and is determined to fight a tariff and trade war, China’s response will continue to the end,” he said, adding: “China is not a seeker of trouble but make no mistake, when challenged we will never back down. Intimidations and threats never work with China.”
