China's necessary countermeasures against the U.S. imposition of a 10-percent additional tariff on Chinese imports under the pretext of the fentanyl issue are fully justified and reasonable, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. said on Tuesday, while urging the U.S. to address its fentanyl crisis rationally rather than resorting to arbitrary tariff hikes.
The Customs Tariff Commission of China's State Council issued a notice on Tuesday on levying additional tariffs on certain imported commodities originating from the United States. At the same time, China has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the 10-percent tariff imposed by the United States on Chinese products, according to the spokesperson.
The United States has levied a 10-percent additional tariff on Chinese imports under the pretext of the fentanyl issue. China firmly deplores and opposes this move. China has taken necessary countermeasures in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and the basic principles of international law, which are completely justified and reasonable. Meanwhile, China has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
China is one of the world's toughest countries on counter-narcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation. Fentanyl is an issue for the United States. In the spirit of humanity and goodwill, China has given support to the U.S. response to this issue. At the U.S. request, China announced back in 2019 the decision to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class. China is the first country in the world to do so. In recent years, China and the United States have carried out extensive, practical cooperation in the field of drug control, and made a lot of tangible progress in the areas of substance control, information exchange, cooperation on individual cases, online advertisement removal, exchange on drug detection technology, and multilateral interactions. The achievements we have made are there for all to see, said the spokesperson.
Reducing domestic drug demand and strengthening law enforcement cooperation are the fundamental solutions to U.S. fentanyl crisis. The U.S. side needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way, cherish China's goodwill, instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes. The unilateral tariff increase by the U.S. side seriously violates WTO rules and is a typical act of unilateralism and trade protectionism. It undermines the foundation of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and is bound to affect and undermine future counter-narcotics cooperation between the two sides, the spokesperson said.
China calls on the United States to correct its wrongdoings, maintain the hard-won positive dynamics in the counter-narcotics cooperation, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations, the spokesperson said.
China's countermeasures against US tariff hike completely justified, reasonable: spokesperson
