Developing | China hits back at US tariffs with vow to take case to the WTO

Decision by Trump administration to impose 10 per cent tariffs on imports from China ‘disrupts normal China-US trade’, Ministry of Commerce says

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In response to US tariffs, China says it will safeguard its interests. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:28am, 2 Feb 2025Updated: 1:54pm, 2 Feb 2025

China will file a claim with the WTO and take necessary countermeasures to safeguard its interests, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday after the US announced it would impose tariffs on Chinese goods.

“The unilateral tariff hikes by the US seriously violate World Trade Organization rules,” the ministry said, adding that the move “not only fails to address America’s own issues” but also “disrupts normal China-US economic and trade cooperation”.

“We urge the US to take an objective and rational approach to its domestic issues, such as fentanyl, rather than resorting to tariff threats against other countries,” the ministry said.

The ministry’s statement followed US President Donald Trump’s decision on Saturday to sign an executive order imposing a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese imports in response to what he said was the failure of Chinese officials to stem the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl into the United States.

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in North America.

The White House also referred China’s “intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behaviour”, as well as illegal immigration “including a rising number of Chinese nationals and people on the terror watch list”.