China is making ‘full assessment’ of US Supreme Court tariff ruling, commerce ministry says

BEIJING: China is making a “full assessment” of the US Supreme Court’s tariff ruling and urged Washington to lift “relevant unilateral tariff measures” on its trading partners, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The comments came days after the highest US court dealt President Donald Trump a stinging defeat by striking down many of the tariffs he has used in a global trade war, including some against rival China.

Within hours of the ruling, Trump said he would impose a new 10% duty on US imports from all countries starting on Tuesday, which he raised to 15% on Saturday. “US unilateral tariffs … violate international trade rules and US domestic law, and are not in the interests of any party,” the Chinese ministry added.

The ministry said it noticed the US planned to maintain tariffs on trading partners through alternative means including trade investigations.

“China will continue to pay close attention to this and firmly safeguard its interests,” the ministry said.

Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2 for a highly anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.