Q: On April 2 EST, the U.S. issued an executive order announcing that it will impose "reciprocal tariffs" on its major trading partners, including 34-percent tariffs on China (including Hong Kong and Macau). What’s your comment?

A: The U.S. announced tariff hikes on imports from many countries, including China, under the pretext of reciprocity. This gravely violates WTO rules, and undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system. China firmly rejects this and will do what is necessary to defend our legitimate rights and interests.

The US claims that it has suffered losses in international trade and is using so-called "reciprocity" as a justification to raise tariffs on all its trading partners. This approach disregards the balance of interests achieved through years of multilateral trade negotiations and ignores the fact that the US has long reaped substantial benefits from international trade.The US’ approach is a typical act of unilateral bullying. Many trading partners have already expressed strong dissatisfaction and clear opposition to this move.

We have emphasized more than once that trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere. We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect and mutual benefit.