Beijing Throws Down Gauntlet Over Trade Talks

China on Sunday warned the US that results of trade talks would be void if Washington went ahead with imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, as negotiations came to an end in Beijing.

If the US moves forward with sanctions, "all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will be void," Xinhua state news agency said in a statement.

The Trump Administration said Tuesday that the US would follow through with tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports, defying a trade truce reached last month in Washington.

Beijing said the two sides had made "positive and concrete progress" on matters like increasing agricultural and energy imports but said details were left for "both sides to finalise".

"China is willing to increase imports from all countries in the world including the United States," the statement said.

But Beijing warned all the results were premised on "not fighting a trade war".

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier on Sunday that the trade talks had been "friendly and frank".

The world's two largest economies have been at loggerheads over trade and industrial practices for months with the talks under way in the Chinese capital the third formal round of negotiations.

The discussions were intended to ease tensions after Washington said it would follow through with tariffs on Chinese imports despite a truce reached between the two sides in the US last month.

Last updated: 2018-06-03 HKT 16:09