BEIJING – China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing’s expense, vowing countermeasures against those who “appease” Washington in the blistering tariff war as its neighbours rush to secure favourable terms from the White House.

While the rest of the world has been hit with a blanket 10% tariff, China faces levies of up to 145% on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125% on US goods.
Parallel to Washington’s full trade war against top economic rival

China, a number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs.
The finance and trade ministers from South Korea — a major exporter to the United States — will hold high-level trade talks in Washington this week, Seoul said.
South Korean giants such as Samsung Electronics and auto maker Hyundai stand to take a hefty hit if the White House goes ahead with its threatened levies.

Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that talks between Japan and the United States could be a “model for the world”, after Tokyo’s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa visited Washington and met President Donald Trump last week.
“The fact that president Trump came out (to negotiate with Japan’s envoy)… shows he sees talks with Japan as important,” he told the country’s parliament on Monday.

“Japan is their ally and the biggest investor and job creator in the US,” Ishiba said.
Tokyo and Washington are due to hold more talks soon — but the Japanese prime minister also said that substance was more important than speed.

“They (the United States) are not in a hurry and we think haste makes waste. At stake is how substantive (the negotiations) will be rather than how quickly they proceed,” local media quoted Ishiba as saying.
Reports have suggested that as concessions for Trump, Japan might increase imports of US soybean and rice, or relax car safety standards.

But Ishiba said Monday that “be it cars or agricultural products, we will not do anything that will affect safety”.
US Vice President JD Vance also arrived in India on Monday for a four-day official visit as the two countries work to hash out a trade agreement.
That came the same day as Beijing warned nations not to seek a deal with the United States that compromised its interests.

“If such a situation occurs, China will never accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures,” they added.  – Nampa/AFP