The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Photo: VCG

Willful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China. China’s position on the trade war is consistent – we do not want it, but we are not afraid of it, a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday, in response to the US’ announcement on October 10 claiming that in response to China’s export control on rare earths and related items, the US will impose a tariff of 100 percent on China and impose export control on all critical software. 

The spokesperson said that on October 9, China released export control measures on rare earths and related items, which are normal actions taken by the Chinese government in accordance with laws and regulations to refine its own export control system. As a responsible major country, China always firmly safeguards its national security and international common security, always takes a just and reasonable principled position and implements export control measures in a prudential and moderate manner. 

The US remarks reflect typical “double standards”. For a long time, the US has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control, taking discriminatory actions against China, and imposing unilateral long-arm jurisdiction measures on various products including semiconductor equipment and chips. The US Commerce Control List (CCL) covers over 3,000 items, whereas China’s Export Control List of Dual-use Items only covers about 900. The US has long imposed the “de minimis” rule for export controls, with a lowest threshold of 0 percent. These measures of the US side have seriously harmed the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of companies, severely disrupted the international economic and trade order, and gravely undermined the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson noted.

Particularly since the China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, the US, in just 20 days, has introduced a string of new restrictive measures targeting China. It has put multiple Chinese entities on the Entity List and Special Designated National List, arbitrarily expanded the scope of control over businesses with the Affiliates Rule that affects thousands of Chinese companies, and persisted with the implementation of Section 301 measures targeting China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries in disregard of China’s concerns and goodwill. “The US actions have severely harmed China’s interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks, and China is resolutely opposed to them,” the spokesperson said.

China urges the US to promptly correct its wrong practices, adhere to the important consensuses of the phone calls between the two heads of state, protect the hard-won outcomes of consultations, continue to use the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, and address respective concerns and properly manage differences through dialogues and on the basis of mutual respect and equal-footed consultation, so as to ensure the stable, sound and sustainable development of the China-US economic and trade relationship, the spokesperson said, noting that if the US insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.

He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Sunday that China’s new export control measures aim to prevent diversion for purposes such as the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction or use by smugglers and terrorists – threats to China’s national security and global stability, a concern shared by the international community. 

"If the US needs rare earths for civilian use, it can obtain licenses through compliance procedures and there is no need for such an overreaction," He said.

The expert said the US has resorted to “maximum pressure” tactic again. However, “it cannot pressure China to serve its own interests through unilateral means. The trade tensions and exchanges between China and the US over the past months have fully demonstrated that such US moves don’t work and only exacerbate the situation,” He noted.


Global Times