China and the US accused each other of unfair trade practices during an informal UN Security Council session amid the escalating tariff war between the world’s two largest economies.
The council met on Wednesday at China’s request to discuss “the impact of unilateralism and bullying practices on international relations”. Japan skipped the meeting given its ongoing trade negotiations with the US.
Chinese ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, said the US tariff policy “severely infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries”.
The trade war between Washington and Beijing escalated after president Donald Trump imposed import taxes of up to 245 per cent on China. The Xi Jinping administration retaliated by slapping 125 per cent tariffs on American goods.
Mr Fu said M Trump’s tariffs put “US interests above the common good of the international community” and “severely undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system, and severely disrupts the global economic order”.
Although Mr Trump has since paused his tariffs on dozens of nations, except China, for 90 days, he has kept in place a 10 per cent universal rate as well as levies on cars, steel and aluminium.
“We cannot allow things to be dictated by whoever has a bigger fist,” Mr Fu said. “Bullying the weak, threats and coercion, and imposing one’s will on others will not win popular support, and will ultimately backfire.”
The US dismissed China’s meeting as a “performative manoeuvre” lacking substance or credibility. American diplomat Ting Wu accused China of using unilateral unfair trade practices that hurt market economies around the world.
“China claims to be a developing country, while it simultaneously weaponizes its donor status and development projects to bully developing member states,” she said. “No more. President Trump is resetting the trade environment so that China can no longer take advantage.”
Mr Trump told reporters on Wednesday that any reduction in tariffs placed on China would depend on the actions of Beijing. He was speaking in the backdrop of reports that the US was preparing to slash tariffs on China up to 65 per cent.
The Chinese commerce ministry on Thursday said the US should remove all “unilateral tariff measures” against China “if it truly wanted” to solve the trade issue.
“The person who tied the bell must untie it,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.
