TMTPost -- Senior officials from China, the European Union and Canada warned on Tuesday that the United States may face their countermeasures ahead of the Trump administration’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs that is scheduled to announce on Wednesday, April 2.
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Credit：Xinhua News Agency
China has never bowed to hegemony, and will definitely take resolute measures if the U.S. continues to exert pressure or even blackmail, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday during his visit to Russia, when asked about where the China-U.S. trade war will go and whether Beijing will further additional tariffs on American goods.
Wang claimed the US has imposed tariffs on China twice on the pretext of addressin fentanyl concerns. He tressed the fact that China has put in place the toughest and most comprehensive counternarcotics policies in today’s world, and has been assisting the United States in various ways on humanitarian grounds.
Wang reiterated his accusing that the U.S. returned good with evil and calling that the abuse of fentanyl in the United States is a problem that must be confronted and resolved by the United States itself. The U.S. should remove of all the extra tariffs that were unreasonably imposed, conduct equal consultations with China to seek mutually beneficial cooperation, if Washington really wants to solve the fentanyl issue, Wang said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday vowed possible strong retaliation against U.S. tariffs. “Europe has not started this confrontation. We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” the head of the EU’s executive told lawmakers at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg, France.
Von der Leyen said the EU was open to negotiations while preparing for the possible retaliatory response. “We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” she said. “But this strength is also built on our readiness to take firm countermeasures if necessary. All instruments are on the table.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated that Ottawa has planned to retaliate if U.S. President Donald Trump moves ahead with tariffs on Wednesday. “We of course will be looking with interest what is announced,” Carney said at an election-campaign stop in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Tuesday. “We will put in place retaliatory measures if there are additional measures put against Canada.”
In his first phone call with Trump as the leader of Canada, Carney last Friday informed Trump that his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and its economy, following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2.
Carney described the Friday call as "very productive and very constructive," but felt that it was only the “start of negotiations" . “We will see what the United States will do on April 2…. It is still the case that there are tariffs on a number of other Canadian goods," he said.
Trump has described April 2 as "Liberation Day" as he touts the new reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of imported goods that his administration plans to unveil on that day. The president said Sunday night that he would target essentially all U.S. trading partners, while claiming that his tariffs would be “far more generous” than what other countries charge the United States.
White House on Monday confirmed Trump will announced detailed reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, April 2. In his first event from the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, Trump will unveil the reciprocal tariff plan featuring country-based levies, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Leavitt declined to provide more details about the upcoming reciprocal tariffs, such as which countries would be subject to these duties and the related tariff rates. But she noted there are “no exemptions at this time” when asked about whether lower tariffs would be applied to products used by American farmers.
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