Protectionism benefits no one and is ultimately unpopular, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference, once again enunciating China's position on the issue of tariffs.
Mao was asked to comment on a ruling by the New York-based Court of International Trade on Wednesday, which blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs announced on April 2, determining that Trump has overstepped his authority on imposing across-the-board duties on imports under emergency powers.
A panel of three judges ruled that the executive orders entailing fentanyl-related tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China as well as the "worldwide, retaliatory" tariffs announced on April 2 "will be vacated and their operation permanently enjoined."
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize any of the executive orders mentioned above, said an opinion by the court.
"On the issue of tariffs, China has clarified its position many times: tariff wars and trade wars have no winners. Protectionism benefits no one and is ultimately unpopular," Mao said.
Protectionism benefits no one: spokeswoman
The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.
The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.
Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.
"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.
Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.
Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.
"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.
Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight
