Chinese Trade Minister, Wang Wentao has insisted that the continuous introduction of tariffs by the US government will cause great harm to the developing world and may even spark a “humanitarian crisis,” Bloomberg reports.
Wang stated this while speaking with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, in a video call on Friday.
He said China’s “decisive countermeasures” are about protecting justice and stopping what he called trade “bullying” by the US government.
Wang also warned that the poorest countries are the ones getting steamrolled by the US tariffs.
The trade war between US and China has escalated in the past few days.
US President Donald Trump’s administration had earlier this month increased tariffs on Chinese imports, escalating trade tensions between the two nations.
Trump later announced a 125% tariff on Chinese goods, pointing at China’s “lack of respect” in trade relations.
Also, a 20% “fentanyl tariff” was imposed on specific imports, bringing the total tariffs on Chinese products to 145%.
In retaliation, China raised tariffs on US imports from 84% to 125%, effective today.
