Beijing [China], April 10 (ANI): With US President Donald Trump going all out in his trade war on China by imposing 125 per cent tariff on import of Chinese goods, Beijing has reached out to the European Union (EU) and ASEAN countries to forge an united front and force the US to backtrack.
Beijing has retaliated with “countermeasures” imposing an 84 per cent tariff on US goods, which will take effect on Thursday. The 27-nation European Union bloc also hit back at Trump’s tariffs on Wednesday by approving levies of up to 25 per cent.
China and the European Union vowed to jointly uphold the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement released today as per Chinese state media.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic held discussions via video on Tuesday and discussed enhancing China-EU economic and trade cooperation and responding to the “reciprocal tariffs” imposed by the US, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday in a statement, Xinhua reported.
The EU and China are each other’s largest trading partners.
During their talks, Wang noted that the US “reciprocal tariffs” seriously violate the legitimate interests of other countries, breach the WTO rules, undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system, and disrupt the stability of the global economic order.
Wang said that the US move is typical “unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying”. He further said that China is willing to resolve disputes through consultation and negotiation, but it will fight to the end if the United States continues to act wilfully.
China and EU have agreed to start consultation on issues concerning market access at an early date, and immediately start negotiations on electric vehicle pricing commitments as well as issues related to bilateral investment cooperation in the auto sector as per the official Xinhua Agency.
On April 8, EU President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang spoke on the phone to discuss the state of EU- China relations, as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
The EU President underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy in response to the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs as per a readout issued by the EU on the call.
As per the Chinese commerce ministry statement, Wang also via video call with Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia (MITI), the ASEAN rotating chair in 2025 had “in-depth and candid exchange of views” on enhancing China-Malaysia and China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation and jointly responding to the US tariffs.
Zafrul said that the MITI has already stated that the US government’s policies are inconsistent with the principles of free and fair trade as stipulated by the WTO.
Malaysia fully respects China’s position and stands ready to jointly uphold multilateralism and global trade development. It will engage in consultations with ASEAN members to collectively address the US “reciprocal tariffs” measures, said Zafrul, according to Xinhua which cited the Chinese commerce ministry’s statement.
The ASEAN bloc today released a statement in which it said that a Special Leaders’ meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be convened to discuss the bloc’s member states’ way forward on the US tariffs.
Economic ministers of the ASEAN regional bloc committed on Thursday “to not impose any retaliatory measures” against the United States over sweeping tariffs and said they were ready to engage in talks.
“ASEAN, being the fifth largest economy in the world, is deeply concerned over the recent introduction of unilateral tariffs by the US, including the tariffs announced on April 2 2025 and subsequently the most recent suspension on 9 April 2025,” the ASEAN ministers said in a statement issued after a video conference meeting.
“Open communication and collaboration will be crucial to ensuring a balanced and sustainable relationship. In that spirit, ASEAN commits to not impose any retaliatory measures in response to the US tariffs,” they said.
The special meeting was chaired by Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz.
Meanwhile, United States President Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on his “reciprocal tariffs” on nearly 60 countries including the European Union . However, he did not extend it to China, instead raising the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent.
The EU president, von der Leyen, said today in a post on X that she welcomed Trump’s announcement to pause reciprocal tariffs. “It’s an important step towards stabilizing the global economy,” she said.
“The European Union remains committed to constructive negotiations with the United States, with the goal of achieving frictionless and mutually beneficial trade,” the EU chief added. (ANI)
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