China’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Li Chenggang, denounced the US tariffs on Tuesday, calling them unilateral and arbitrary.
Speaking at the first meeting of the year of the WTO’s General Council, Li said the measures amounted to a blatant violation of the organization’s rules.
"The world faces a series of tariff shocks," Li said. "The US has imposed or threatened tariffs on its trading partners, including China, unilaterally and arbitrarily, blatantly violating WTO rules. China firmly opposes such measures."
He warned that the new tariffs could trigger a global economic shock by increasing uncertainty, distorting markets, and potentially leading to a global recession. Li urged Washington to reverse the tariffs and commit to multilateral dialogue based on equity, mutual benefit, and respect.
Following his re-election, Trump imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products. In response, China introduced retaliatory tariffs targeting US coal and liquefied natural gas.
Li further cautioned that US unilateralism threatened to undermine the multilateral trading system, which is based on established international rules.