Beijing condemned new US tariffs imposed on China and 59 other countries over alleged forced labor concerns on Friday and warned Washington against escalating into a trade war.
US taxes range from 10 to 12.5 percent, with China being hit with the highest rate.
“We oppose all forms of unilateral tariff measures,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference on Friday.
“Tariff wars and trade wars are not in the interests of either side,” he warned.
The new tariffs replace an expiring global tariff imposed by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The Trump administration has moved quickly to rebuild the president’s tariff wall after the Supreme Court struck down a number of his duties in February — dealing a blow to his ability to issue high tariffs at will.
In unveiling the duties, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington was “rigorously” enforcing a ban on the importation of forced labor and that it was “past time for our trading partners to do the same”.
Economies that have implemented a ban on forced labor – including Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom – received the lowest rate of 10 percent.
Other major trading partners, including India and Japan, were hit with higher tariffs of 12.5 percent.
China and the United States, which spent much of last year locked in an escalating trade war, reached a truce when Trump and President Xi Jinping met last October.
After Trump visited Beijing this year, China said it would work with the United States to reduce tariffs, but the latest tariffs threaten to renew trade tensions.
