China has vehemently condemned the tariffs launched or threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting on Tuesday, February 18, warning that such “tariff shocks” could disrupt the global trading system and potentially lead to a global recession.
Trump announced 10% tariffs on all Chinese imports on February 4, 2025, which resulted in Beijing to respond with retaliatory tariffs and to file a WTO dispute against Washington. The dispute against the United States could serve as an early test of Trump’s stance towards the WTO.
China’s ambassador to the WTO, Li Chenggang, said at a closed-door meeting of the global trade body: “These ‘tariff shocks’ heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession.”
“Worse, the U.S. unilateralism threatens to upend the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
The WTO discussion on Tuesday is the first the General Council is addressing mounting trade frictions.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of WTO, has urged all the members of the WTO to refrain from retaliating in the event of tariffs to avoid “catastrophic” trade wars.
Responding to Trump’s tariff imposition, China has implemented its retaliatory measures, including a 15% tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas and coal, a 10% tariff on crude oil, agricultural equipment, and large-engine vehicles, launching an anti-monopoly investigation into Google, and imposing export controls on rare metals.
