Chinese commerce minister expresses concerns over U.S. tariffs

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Wednesday sent a letter to new U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, congratulating Lutnick on his taking office as the 41st U.S. Secretary of Commerce and expressing concerns over the U.S. tariffs on imports from China.

Noting that economic and trade relations are an important part of China-U.S. relations, Wang said it is of great significance for China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies, to strengthen economic and trade cooperation for their respective development and global economic growth.

Over the past years, the ministries of commerce of the two countries have played an important role in promoting and facilitating economic and trade cooperation, he said.

China is willing to work with the U.S. to strengthen dialogue, manage differences, promote cooperation and create a fair and predictable policy environment for practical cooperation between the business communities of the two countries on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, said Wang.

He emphasized that China is strongly dissatisfied that the U.S. has imposed 10 percent tariffs on Chinese products exported to the U.S. on the grounds of fentanyl and other issues.

China and the U.S. have carried out extensive and in-depth cooperation on fentanyl control and have achieved remarkable results, said Wang.

The U.S. unilateral imposition of tariffs has caused damage to normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S., he said.

China hopes that the two countries' respective concerns can be resolved through dialogue and consultation on an equal footing, Wang added.