‘Shocking' and 'bogus': China's foreign ministry rebukes Kudlow for trade remarks
22 July, 2018
China’s foreign ministry hit back at comments made by President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor on Thursday, saying it is clear who is right and who is wrong in an escalating trade row between the world’s two largest economies.
The U.S. and China have imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s goods so far, as part of a full-blown trade war that has roiled financial markets.
Trump has recently threatened to impose a new round of charges on $200 billion of Chinese products, unless the People’s Republic agrees to change its intellectual property practices and high-technology industrial subsidy plans.
On Wednesday, Larry Kudlow, who head’s the White House Economic Council, said that while some lower-ranking Chinese officials were prepared to reach a deal, President Xi Jinping was refusing to compromise over Beijing’s trade policies.
In an interview at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference in New York, Kudlow said: “I don’t think President Xi at the moment has any intention of following through on the discussion we made and I think the president is so dissatisfied with China on these so-called talks that he is keeping the pressure on — and I support that.”
Kudlow: I'm not a big fan of tariffs but we can't allow China to steal our technology 1:52 PM ET Wed, 18 July 2018 | 07:35
In response, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “That the relevant United States official unexpectedly distorted the facts and made bogus accusations is shocking and beyond imagination.”
“The United States' flip-flopping and promise-breaking is recognized globally," she added during a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
Trade war
The U.S. president cites America’s widening trade deficit with China as the trigger for the ongoing trade dispute. Meanwhile, investors lament what they call China’s unfair trading practices — which include forced technology transfers, disproportionately limited market access and preferential state subsidies.
Trump's administration released a new list of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods on July 10, as the president continues to broaden the scope of the trade war with Beijing. Trump's new tariffs will not go into effect immediately but will undergo a two-month review process, with hearings Aug. 20-23. The list comes after warnings by Trump that he may implement tariffs on at least $500 billion in Chinese goods should Beijing retaliate against the $34 billion in U.S. tariffs that kicked in July 6.
Despite the president's threats, China implemented retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. shortly after. China has again accused the U.S. of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute.