BEIJING: China will pay no attention if the United States continues to play the “tariff numbers game,” China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, after the White House outline how China faces tariffs of up to 245 percent due to its retaliatory actions.
In a fact sheet released on Tuesday, the White House said China’s total duties include the latest reciprocal tariff of 125 percent, a 20 percent tariff to address the fentanyl crisis, and tariffs of between 7.5 percent and 100 percent on specific goods to address unfair trade practices.
US President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on all countries two weeks ago, before suddenly rolling back higher “reciprocal tariffs” for dozens of countries while keeping punishing duties on China.
Beijing raised its own levies on US goods in response and has not sought talks, which it says can only be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and equality. Meanwhile, many other nations have begun looking at bilateral deals with Washington.
Last week, China also filed a new complaint with the World Trade Organization expressing “grave concern” over US tariffs, accusing Washington of violating the global trade body’s rules.
China this week unexpectedly appointed a new trade negotiator who would be key in any talks to resolve the escalating tariff war, replacing trade tsar Wang Shouwen with Li Chenggang, its envoy to the WTO.
Washington said Trump was open to making a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, insisting that China needed “our money.”
China says it will ignore US threats to raise tariffs up to 245%
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China says it will ignore US threats to raise tariffs up to 245%
- Washington said Trump was open to making a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, insisting that China needed “our money”
US sanctions network recruiting Colombian fighters for Sudanese paramilitary
- Hurley said the RSF has shown “its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region”
- Treasury says RSF was supported by Colombian fighters when it captured El-Fasher
WASHINGTON: The US imposed sanctions on four people and four firms for their alleged involvement in a transnational network that recruits former Colombian military members who train soldiers to fight for the Sudanese paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.
The Rapid Support Forces, which has been at war with the Sudanese military since April 2023 has been accused of war crimes by Amnesty International and the UN’s Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said this month that he fears “a new wave of atrocities ” in Sudan amid a surge in fierce fighting in the Kordofan region in central Sudan.
Included in the Tuesday sanctions are Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, a retired Colombian military officer and his wife, an employment agency manager named Mateo Andres Duque Botero, and a number of staffing agencies that have allegedly processed payroll for the Colombian fighters.
Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said the RSF has shown “its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow.”
According to the UN the conflict in Sudan has killed 40,000 people — though some rights groups say the death toll is significantly higher — and has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over 14 million displaced. Many areas have experienced famine.
The US government has accused the RSF of genocide in Darfur, and the International Criminal Court has said it is investigating suspected war crimes.
Treasury says RSF was supported by Colombian fighters when it captured El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on October 26 after an 18-month siege. The city, where dozens of unarmed men were executed and women and girls were raped, was the military’s last stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur.
President Donald Trump has stated he wants to end the civil war in Sudan. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was recently in Washington D.C. in November and requested Trump’s help to end the war.
And Kenyan President William Ruto during a December meeting with Trump asked for Trump’s support in “efforts to resolve the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.”
