China hikes tariffs on US soybeans, electric cars, fish

China fired back Saturday in a spiraling trade dispute with President Donald Trump by raising import duties on a $34 billion list of American goods including soybeans, electric cars and whiskey.

The government said it was responding in "equal scale" to Trump's tariff hike on Chinese goods in a conflict over Beijing's trade surplus and technology policy that companies worry could quickly escalate and chill global economic growth.

A woman poses for a photo in front of a CT6 Cadillac during the Consumer Electronics Show Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China on Friday, June 15, 2018. President Donald Trump is hiking the price of Chinese-made forklift trucks and X-ray machines for American buyers. They are part of a $50 billion list of Chinese exports targeted for a 25 percent tariff hike in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

China "doesn't want a trade war" but has to "fight back strongly," said a Commerce Ministry statement. It said Beijing also was scrapping agreements to narrow its multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States by purchasing more American farm goods, natural gas and other products.

The United States and China have the world's biggest trading relationship but official ties are increasingly strained over complaints Beijing's industry development tactics violate its free-trade pledges and hurt American companies. Europe, Japan and other trading partners raise similar complaints, but Trump has been unusually direct about challenging Beijing and threatening to disrupt such a large volume of exports.

"In this trade war, it's the U.S. who is playing the role of provocateur, while China plays defense," said the Global Times, a newspaper published by the ruling Communist Party. "China is a powerful guardian and has enough ammunition to defend existing trade rules and fairness."

Beijing will impose an additional 25 percent tariff starting July 6 on 545 products from the United States including soybeans, electric cars, orange juice, whiskey, lobsters, salmon and cigars, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Most are food and other farm goods, hitting Trump's rural supporters hardest.

Beijing appeared to be trying to minimize the impact on its own economy by picking U.S. products that can be replaced by imports from other suppliers such as Brazil or Australia.

Chinese regulators also are considering a tariff hike on an additional 114 products including medical equipment and energy products, the Finance Ministry said. It said a decision would be announced later.

People walk past an exhibition of a television set by Chinese consumer electronics company Hisense at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China on Friday, June 15, 2018. President Donald Trump is hiking the price of Chinese-made forklift trucks and X-ray machines for American buyers. They are part of a $50 billion list of Chinese exports targeted for a 25 percent tariff hike in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

That mirrored the Trump administration's announcement Friday of a tariff hike on $34 billion of Chinese goods, also due to take effect July 6, and plans to consider widening it to an additional $16 billion of other products.

China's heavily regulated economy also gives the ruling Communist Party additional options for retaliation by withholding approval for business activity.

Anti-monopoly regulators are believed to have delayed announcing a decision on U.S. tech giant Qualcomm's proposed acquisition of semiconductor maker NXP in part due to the tariff conflict. Other companies say the approval process for licenses has slowed down.

"China's retaliation will remain calibrated and largely reciprocal, with President Xi Jinping ready to counter any move by Trump," said Eurasia Group in a report. "Beijing has a freer hand for informal retaliation, which will now start to increase."

The American Chamber of Commerce had appealed to Washington to avoid a tariff hike but said Trump's threat has prompted Beijing to engage in more intensive negotiations than it had in recent years.

Companies also are watching the fate of ZTE Corp., a Chinese maker of telecoms gear that ran afoul of U.S. regulators after it violated restrictions on exports of American technology to Iran and North Korea.

Washington rescinded a ban on sales of U.S. technology to ZTE after the company agreed to pay a $1 billion fine and hire American-picked compliance managers. The agreement allows Washington to impose an additional $400 million fine or other penalties if ZTE violates the deal.

Trump is pressing Beijing to narrow its trade surplus with the United States and roll back its plans for state-led development of Chinese global competitors in technology fields including electric cars, renewable energy, artificial intelligence and biotech.

A man wears a virtual reality headset at the Chinese mobile phone company Lenovo exhibition at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China on Friday, June 15, 2018. President Donald Trump is hiking the price of Chinese-made forklift trucks and X-ray machines for American buyers. They are part of a $50 billion list of Chinese exports targeted for a 25 percent tariff hike in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

The U.S., Europe, Japan and other trading partners complain Beijing's tactics including outright theft of foreign technology and subsidies and protection from competition for fledgling Chinese industries. They say those violate Chinese market-opening commitments under the World Trade Organization.

Tensions eased temporarily after Chinese negotiators agreed at talks in Washington in May to buy more American farm goods, natural gas and other products. American officials said they would suspend threatened tariff increases on up to $150 billion of Chinese goods.

The dispute revived after the White House renewed its plan for a tariff hike on $50 billion of Chinese goods as part of the technology dispute. The Chinese government warned after another round of talks June 3 that it would discard those deals if the tariffs went ahead.

Businesspeople and economists say Chinese leaders are less likely to compromise on technology. They view plans for state-led development of companies capable of competing globally in fields including electric cars, renewable energy and biotech as a route to prosperity and to restore China to its rightful role as a world leader.

"There isn't one country who would give up their rights to advance technology and make industrial upgrades," said the Global Times editorial.

Women interact near a robot designed by Chinese robotics company Pangolin at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China on Friday, June 15, 2018. President Donald Trump is hiking the price of Chinese-made forklift trucks and X-ray machines for American buyers. They are part of a $50 billion list of Chinese exports targeted for a 25 percent tariff hike in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)

Beijing also has announced plans to cut import duties on autos and some consumer goods and to ease limits on foreign ownership in auto manufacturing, insurance and some other industries, though those don't directly address U.S. complaints.

On Thursday, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said some exporters were rushing to fill orders due to concern trade conditions might change, but said they were "not the mainstream."

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, calling it “a dirty spectacle” that cherry picks weapons of mass destruction from all other weapons that should also be banned.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining.

The resolution would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the U.S. and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the resolution as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” and said it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.

Russia and China proposed an amendment to the U.S.-Japan draft that would call on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”

The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes required for adoption.

The U.S. opposed the amendment, and after the vote Nebenzia addressed the U.S. ambassador saying: “We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?”

He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”

Nebenzia accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”

She called Wednesday’s vote “a real missed opportunity to rebuild much-needed trust in existing arms control obligations.”

Thomas-Greenfield’s announcement of the resolution on March 18 followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.

Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”

It could destroy “thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend on,” she said.

The defeated draft resolution said “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.” It would have urged all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the U.N. Charter.

The draft would have affirmed that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”

The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries, including the U.S. and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”

The draft resolution emphasized “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”

It reiterated that the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.

The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution would have urged the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”

At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”

He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”

“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.

United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses members of the U.N. Security Council before voting during a meeting on Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)