May be forced to take counter measures, no winner in trade war: China's envoy at U.N. on U.S. tariffs

China criticizes U.S. tariffs, warns of countermeasures, emphasizes no winner in trade war, calls for cooperation at UN.

China lashed out at the U.S. over tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, saying Beijing "may be forced to take countermeasures" and stressed that there is "no winner in a trade war".

“We are firmly opposed to this unwarranted increase and we do believe that this is in violation of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules," China’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Fu Cong said.

Also read | China denounces Trump tariff: ‘Fentanyl is America’s problem’

Mr. Fu was addressing a press conference on Monday (February 3, 2025) as China assumed the rotating presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of February.

In response to a question about the Trump administration imposing 10% tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S., he said China is filing a complaint at the WTO and Beijing "may be forced to take countermeasures." On Saturday, the White House announced that Trump was implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 per cent additional tariff on imports from China.

"President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country," the White House had said.

The Chinese envoy emphasised that "there is no winner in a trade war and we do hope that the U.S. should look at its own problems, really solve... find a solution that is beneficial to itself and also to the whole world." "Frankly speaking, I don't think that raising tariffs is beneficial to the U.S. itself," Mr. Fu said.