Daily Times

Liu He, the Chinese vice premier in charge of the economy, told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Saturday that Beijing was “ready to defend its national interests” but hoped that “both sides will remain rational and work together,” according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.

He also accused a US probe into Chinese intellectual property practices of violating international trade rules.

China had warned the United States on Friday that it was “not afraid of a trade war” as it threatened tariffs on $3 billion worth of US goods in retaliation. And French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe would respond “without weakness” to Washington’s threats of tariffs on steel and aluminium.

“Nothing should be addressed when it is with a gun to your head,” he said at the end of an EU summit in Brussels.

Global stocks have plummeted as fears rise that the confrontation could provoke a damaging trade war. Meanwhile, World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevedo called for cooler heads to prevail, saying in a statement that new trade barriers would “jeopardise the global economy”.

But speaking to reporters on Friday as he signed new budget legislation, Trump said his efforts were beginning to bear fruit.

Washington this week said it would temporarily exempt Europe as well as countries including Brazil, Argentina, South Korea and Australia from the steep new steel and aluminium tariffs that Trump unveiled this month and which took effect Friday.