US Tariffs “Groundless”, says China

China’s Commerce Ministry has labelled US measures against Chinese imports, such as the tariffs on consumer tyres, as “groundless”. On October 15 ministry spokesman Yao Jian told journalists "the US launched a large number of trade remedy measures this year. Quite a few such measures were groundless and wrong."

According to Yao, this year 19 countries have undertaken 88 trade actions, worth a total of US$10.2 billion, against China. The US alone has launched 16 actions, accounting for 57 per cent of the eleven digit sum. He also said that China would “formally discuss” the trade actions with the US at the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade to be in Hangzhou in late October.

“The abuse of trade remedy measures will only worsen the already hard trade environment,” Yao added. “We are firmly opposed to those groundless cases.”

President Barack Obama will make his first presidential visit to China in mid-November. He will visit Shanghai and Beijing, where he will hold a third set of talks with China’s President Hu Jintao.