China said Friday it was ready to pay “any cost” in a possible trade war with the US, after President Donald Trump warned he was considering $100 billion in extra tariffs.
“If the US side disregards opposition from China and the international community and insists on carrying out unilateralism and trade protectionism, the Chinese side will take them on until the end at any cost,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.
“We don’t want a trade war, but we aren’t afraid of fighting one.”
Trump threatened an additional $100 billion in tit-for-tat tariffs on Beijing Thursday, in the latest step in an escalating trade dispute.
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The US president has said he will impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, which would hit China.
China responded with proposed tariffs on fresh fruit, pork and recycled aluminium, accounting for $3 billion of US exports last year.
The US on Tuesday published a list of $50 billion in Chinese imports set to be hit by US tariffs.
China responded with its own, hitting U.S. automakers, aero companies, including Boeing, grain merchants and chipmakers.
The Chinese government took less than 11 hours to respond with its own measures and it led to a sharp sell-off in global stock markets and commodities.
In a speech Thursday, Trump said “in light of China’s unfair retaliation,” he had instructed trade officials to “consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate.”
