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China has hit back against new US trade investigations into its exports, escalating trade tensions just weeks ahead of a planned visit to Beijing by President Donald Trump.
Beijing’s commerce ministry said on Friday it was initiating two probes into the US’s so-called “section 301 investigations” into China and scores of other countries. Washington announced the investigations this month after the US Supreme Court in April ruled that Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs were illegal.
“The Ministry of Commerce will . . . advance the investigation into barriers imposed by the United States, and take corresponding measures . . . to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights,” the Chinese ministry said.
The move, which signals that China intends to maintain its stiff resistance to Trump’s trade assault, came just a day after the US accused Beijing of threatening American shipping interests by detaining Panama-flagged ships at its ports.
Beijing fought Trump to a trade war standstill last year by restricting access to materials critical to global manufacturing for US companies.
The US initially imposed tariffs of up to 145 per cent on China, but Beijing — whose state-owned companies dominate the supply of rare earths — forced Trump to agree a one-year truce at a meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea in October.
Trump and Xi were expected to meet again in early April, but the US president postponed the summit to May 14-15 because of his war against Iran.
China’s state media has softened its political rhetoric against Trump despite his attacks on Venezuela and Iran, which both have friendly relations with Beijing. But China has drawn the line on trade.
The US 301 investigations “may seriously harm the trade interests of Chinese enterprises”, the commerce ministry said, adding that some of the measures were suspected of violating World Trade Organization rules.
US Federal Maritime Commission chair Laura DiBella said on Thursday that the agency was “closely monitoring” what she called “retaliatory actions against Panama” by China that were affecting global shipping.
“China has now imposed a surge in detentions of Panama‑flagged vessels in Chinese ports under the guise of port state control, far exceeding historical norms,” DiBella said in a statement, without providing details.
She said the intensified inspections appeared to be intended to punish Panama for transferring assets operated by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings.
“Given that Panama‑flagged ships carry a meaningful share of US containerised trade, these actions could result in significant commercial and strategic consequences to US shipping,” she said.
The Panamanian government in February appointed US subsidiaries of Danish shipping giant Maersk and Swiss-based MSC as interim operators of two CK Hutchison terminals on the Panama Canal.
The appointment followed a ruling by Panama’s supreme court in January that annulled CK Hutchison’s contract for the ports, a decision seen as a victory for Trump’s efforts to increase US influence in the region.
CK Hutchison has taken Panama to arbitration. Panama Ports Company, the conglomerate’s local unit, said this week the arbitration claim now topped $2bn.
China’s foreign ministry declined to comment on the details of the US allegations, but said: “The US’s repeated rhetoric only exposes its own intention to seize the canal.”
The US trade investigations, which were into alleged overcapacity and forced labour by Chinese producers, were “marked by strong unilateralism, arbitrariness and discrimination”, official news site China.org.cn quoted Wang Ziyang, of the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying.
The probes’ “underlying aim” was to erect trade barriers, Wang said, adding that they were “opportunistic posturing” ahead of this year’s US midterm elections.
Additional reporting by Milagro Vallecillos in Panama City