China accuses US of ‘economic terrorism’
Business
Line
May
30, 2019
China
accuses US of ‘economic terrorism’
Press
Trust of India Beijing | Updated on May
30, 2019 Published on May 30, 2019
Both
the US and China have imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars on export of
products sparking fears that the conflict could damage the global economy.
In a
major escalation of the US-China trade war, Beijing on Thursday accused the US
of following “naked economic terrorism” and threatened to the stop export of
rare-earth metals, a key resource for Apple’s iPhones and hi-tech missile
guidance systems, to America.
The
world’s two largest economies are engaged in a trade war after talks to resolve
the issue between them apparently failed, with US President Donald Trump
putting a ban on Huawei, the China’s biggest telecom equipment manufacturer,
and threatening to slap additional tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth
of Chinese exports.
In
the sharpest attack yet on the US since the beginning of the trade war, China’s
Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui accused Washington of indulging in “naked
economic terrorism”.
“We
are against the trade war, but we are not afraid of it,” Zhang said while
briefing media on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Russia next week. The
premeditated instigation of a trade conflict is economic chauvinism and
economic bullying, he said.
Global
economy
Both
the US and China have already imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars on
export of products sparking fears that the conflict between them could damage
the global economy.
Trump,
who kicked off the trade war last year, demanded China to reduce the massive
trade deficit which has climbed to over $539 billion last year. He insisted
Beijing for verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights
(IPR), technology transfer and more access to American goods to the Chinese
market.
The
US has imposed a tariff on $200 billion Chinese products while Beijing
increased tariff on $60 billion US products, which will take effect from
Saturday.
Underling
that there is no winner in a trade war, Zhang said, “This trade conflict will
also have a serious negative impact on the development and revival of the
global economy”. Meanwhile, in a separate briefing, China’s Commerce Ministry
spokesperson, Gao Feng, said “Beijing will not allow any countries to use
rare-earth materials to make products that will suppress China’s development”.
When
asked if China will stop exporting rare-earth materials to the US, Gao said
China has been the world’s largest supplier of rare-earth materials and always
been keen to meet the demand of its trade partners to promote the rare-earth
industry.
Asked
whether China would take certain actions against Apple Inc following the US’s
restrictions on Huawei’s business operations, Gao said the legitimate rights
and interests of all foreign enterprises in China will be protected.
Rare-earth
metals
Gao’s
comments on rare-earth metals came after persistent reports in the state-run
media that China would stop exports of rare-earth materials which could affect
production of touch phones to guided missiles in the US.
With
23 per cent of the world’s rare-earth deposits, China currently is the largest
exporter of rare-earth materials made up of a group of 17 elements. China’s
exports about 71 per cent of the metals around the world.
The
global deposit reserves are estimated at 120 million tonnes. Rare-earth metals
are extracted from the earth’s crust. They are costly as refining and
extracting them in commercially viable quantities are expensive besides
environmentally hazardous.
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