Q: On April 2 EST, the U.S. issued an executive order announcing that it will impose "reciprocal tariffs" on its major trading partners, including 34-percent tariffs on China. What's your comment?

A: The Trump administration imposed “reciprocal tariffs", ranging from 10 to 50percent, on all its trading partners, which gravely violates WTO rules, severely undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system and global industrial division, and harms legitimate and legal rights and interests of all sides. Many countries including China have voiced their strong dissatisfaction and clear opposition.

The Trump administration claims that the U.S. has suffered losses in international trade and is using so-called "reciprocity" as a justification to raise tariffs on all its trading partners. This approach disregards the balance of interests achieved through years of multilateral trade negotiations and ignores the fact that the U.S. has long reaped substantial benefits from international trade. The Trump administration' approach is a typical act of unilateral bullying. Showing weakness or compromising will simply lead it to demand more fiercely. China will resolutely adopt countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

China has launched a series of rapid and strong countermeasures, including export controls on rare earth elements, adding 16 entities from the U.S. to the export control list and imposing an additional 34 percent tariff on all US-origin imports from April 10.

Trade and tariff wars have no winners. Protectionism leads nowhere. We urge the U.S. to stop doing the wrong thing, and resolve trade differences with China and other countries through consultation with equality, respect and mutual benefit. Multilateralism is a must choice to resolve global difficulties and challenges, and economic globalization is an unstoppable historical trend. No matter how the international landscape changes, China will uphold the true multilateralism, promote a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and dedicate to advance an open world economy.