China seeks Asian neighbours’ support in trade fight with US
Posted May 23, 2019 05:13:33 AM.
BEIJING — China is seeking to support from some of its Asian neighbours and Russia in its escalating tariff fight with the U.S.
Speaking Wednesday at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said representatives of the eight-nation grouping had expressed “broad support” for China’s position.
Wang reiterated China’s stance that it would never accept unequal trading arrangements. He said Beijing will match “extreme pressure” from the U.S. with its own measures.
Beijing has already responded to Trump’s tariff hikes on $250 billion of Chinese imports by slapping penalties on $110 billion of American goods. Based on last year’s trade, that leaves about $45 billion in imports from the U.S.
That includes semiconductors and other critical inputs needed by fledgling Chinese tech industries.
The Associated Press
