Beijing Renews Threat To Scrap Deals On US Trade

Beijing on Thursday renewed its threat to scrap deals with Washington aimed at defusing a sprawling trade dispute as the White House prepared to release a list of Chinese goods targeted for tariff hikes.

President Donald Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on up to US$150 billion of Chinese goods in response to complaints about Beijing's trade surplus and technology policy.

As part of that, the White House is due to issue a list on Friday of US$50 billion of Chinese goods targeted for a 25 percent tariff.

Beijing has promised to buy more American soybeans, natural gas and other exports but warned after June 3 talks between US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China's top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, that all deals were off if Trump's threatened tariffs went ahead.

"We made clear that if the US rolls out trade sanction including the imposition of tariffs, all outcomes reached by the two sides in terms of trade and economy will not come into effect," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. "I just want to repeat this point today."

Beijing also has announced plans to cut import duties on autos and some consumer goods and to ease limits on foreign ownership in auto manufacturing, insurance and some other industries, though those don't directly address U.S. complaints.

On Thursday, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said some mainland exporters are rushing to fill orders due to concern about possible trade risks.

The spokesman didn't mention Washington and Trump's threat of tariff hikes.

"A few companies have increased the number of 'short orders' to avoid risks," Gao Feng said at a regular briefing. "However, this is not the mainstream and will not affect our country's situation of steady and healthy development of foreign trade." (AP)