A SPOKESPERSON for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) yesterday expressed solemn protest against the United States’ announcement of a list of tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods.

“The United States has unveiled the list of tariffs in an escalating manner. This is totally unacceptable, and we express our solemn protest against this,” the spokesperson said.

“By doing this, the United States is hurting China, hurting the whole world, and hurting itself. The irrational act goes against the will of the people.

“China is shocked by what the United States did. To defend the core interests of the nation and the fundamental interests of the people, the Chinese Government will, as always, be forced to take necessary countermeasures. In the meantime, we appeal to the international community to jointly defend free trade rules and the multilateral trade regime and fight trade bullying.

“We will immediately lodge an additional complaint with the WTO over the unilateral acts of the United States.”

(Xinhua)