China issued a scathing rebuke to the United States over its tariff hike, accusing Washington of economic bullying and warning of serious consequences for the global trading system. The response came as a global stock markets tumbled, with China attributing the sharp declines to President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun posted a screenshot on Facebook showing the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all falling over 5% on Friday, adding the caption, “The market has spoken.” He called the trade war “unprovoked and unjustified” and urged the US to resolve trade disputes “through equal-footed consultation.”
The S&P 500 dropped 6%, the Dow Jones fell 5.5%, and the Nasdaq plunged 5.8% — sharp sell-offs triggered by Trump’s aggressive tariff move, which China said has intensified an already escalating trade war.
In response, China announced it will impose a 34% tariff on all US imports starting next week, joining a series of retaliatory actions. On Saturday night, Beijing escalated its criticism, issuing a strongly worded statement through the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
“The US uses tariffs as a weapon to exert extreme pressure and seek private interests. This is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying,” the statement read. It accused Washington of “seriously violating WTO rules” and “damaging the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
The statement added, “We do not provoke trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble. Pressure and threats are not the right way to deal with China.” It vowed that Beijing would continue to take “firm measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and development interests.”
China also signalled it would not retreat from global engagement, pledging to pursue “high-level opening-up” despite mounting trade barriers. “Economic globalisation is the inevitable path for the development of human society,” it said. “The world needs justice, not tyranny.”