China-US Trade Tensions: Beijing hits back after Trump threatens $100 bln in extra tariffs

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China says it's ready to pay "any cost" in a possible trade war with the US. The remark came after US President Donald Trump warned he was considering placing a hundred billion US dollars in extra tariffs on Chinese goods. Jiang Shaoyi has more.

China says it will fight till the end if the US sticks to unilateralism.

GAO FENG, SPOKESPERSON MINISTRY OF COMMERCE "If the US continues to ignore objections from China and the international community, and insist upon unilateral decisions and protectionism, then China will fight on at all costs. China will conduct new corresponding measures to defend the national and people's interests."

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a statement Thursday saying he asked the Trade Representative to consider slapping 100 billion U.S. dollars of additional tariffs on China. He cited China's "unfair retaliation" to previous US taxes as a reason for additional potential levies.

The statement came two days after the Trade Representative proposed imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on 50 billion dollars' worth of imports from China. China's response to the move, seen by the US president as "unfair retaliation", was similar tariffs on a range of US imports. These include soybeans, pork and aircraft. Many of China's targeted goods are produced in Trump's political heartland.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said the US made a mistake by choosing China as its target.

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "The US is wrong by attempting to benefit from protectionism. Both China and the US are the world's major countries who should respect each other and treat each other as equals. The US is wrong again in picking China as its target of trade sanctions."

In Thursday's White House statement, President Trump also said he would use his broad authority to implement a plan to protect US farmers and agricultural interests. But as US National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said, the US is on a dangerous downward spiral and American families will be on the losing end.

Who will make the next move in this trade stand-off? CGTN