China Condemns New US Tariff Policy, Calls It Unilateral

The Chinese government has firmly opposed the new trade tariffs imposed by the United States government.

“China’s position on China-US economic and trade issues is consistent and clear. We oppose all forms of unilateral tariffs,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian at a press conference in Beijing on Friday (24/7/2026).

The United States began imposing new tariffs of 10 to 12.5 per cent on goods imported from 60 major trading partners on Friday, including China, Japan and the European Union. The US government said the policy was adopted because those countries were deemed not to have been sufficiently firm in banning imports of goods produced using forced labour.

“A tariff war and a trade war benefit no one,” Lin Jian asserted.

However, Lin Jian did not reveal whether China would take retaliatory action over the imposition of the new trade tariffs.

The announcement of the new US trade tariffs came one day before the 10 per cent global tariff introduced by President Donald Trump in February expires. That temporary tariff was applied after the US Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal tariff policy previously imposed on a number of countries, including fentanyl-related levies on products from China, Canada and Mexico.

According to the US Trade Representative’s office, the countries targeted by the new tariffs account for roughly 99 per cent of total US imports.

Unlike America’s allies, China received no special treatment, meaning the new 12.5 per cent tariff will be added on top of duties already in effect.

Besides China, Japan and the European Union, the tariff also applies to Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand. The tariff rates were determined based on the alleged level of forced labour use according to assessments by the US government.

While most partner countries will be subject to the 12.5 per cent tariff, around 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico, will only face a 10 per cent tariff because they are judged to have taken stronger legal steps to prevent imports of goods suspected of being produced through forced labour.

In Asia, the United States applied higher tariffs to Japan and South Korea. However, goods from both countries already subject to tariffs of 12.5 per cent or more previously will be exempt from the additional tariff.

Moreover, the new tariff also does not apply to products already subject to sectoral tariffs, such as cars and steel, previously imposed by Trump on national security grounds.

The Trump administration launched trade investigations on the grounds that many US trading partners were cutting costs through the use of forced labour. Washington is also examining practices deemed unfair relating to industrial overcapacity in 16 economies, including China, India, Japan, Vietnam and the European Union.