China said that its position on trade wars remains consistent and clear—that they have no winners and are in no one’s interests—as it responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threat over soybean purchases and cooking oil.
Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, gave Beijing’s response at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
He said the U.S. and China “should resolve differences through dialogue and consultation based on equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefit,” according to the Chinese state-run Global Times publication.
Trump on Tuesday accused China in a post on Truth Social of “purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act.”
“We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution. As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China,” Trump said.
The U.S.-China trade war has reignited after Beijing imposed a new set of restrictions on rare earth exports, which the Trump administration says broke earlier tariff-cutting agreements between the two sides.
Trump said he would impose a 100 percent tariff on China as a consequence, triggering a sell-off in global markets eyeing the potential economic fallout.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
