6 August 2018 11:36 am
BEIJING REUTERS Aug 4 - China’s state media said on Saturday the government’s retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods showed rational restraint and they accused the United States of blackmail.
Late on Friday, China’s finance ministry unveiled new sets of additional tariffs on 5,207 goods imported from the United States, with the extra levies ranging from five to 25 percent on a total value of goods less than half of that proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
The response follows the Trump administration’s proposal of a 25-percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
“China’s countermeasures are rational,” the Global Times, a tabloid run by the official People’s Daily, said in a commentary.
“China will not rush to compete with U.S. numbers,” it said, echoing comments made by state television.
The United States and China implemented tariffs on $34 billion worth of each others’ goods in July.