BEIJING — China is still short on details on how it will respond to new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
“If the U.S. obstinately clings to its own way, China has no choice but to take corresponding countermeasures,” Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday in Mandarin, according to a CNBC translation. “The U.S. should change its wrong actions.”
He did not elaborate on what those measures might entail, but emphasized the need for fairness in trade negotiations.
The U.S. and China have been embroiled in a trade dispute for more than a year.
President Donald Trump threatened earlier this month to raise tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods not yet subject to duties. His administration later delayed the effective date for some of the new tariffs from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15, ostensibly to reduce the impact on the holiday shopping season.
Gao’s wording echoed the little official commentary that has come out on the U.S. tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said last week on its website, citing a person from the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, that China will have to take “necessary countermeasures,” according to a CNBC translation.