China vows to protect interests in US trade spat
Beijing, July 5: China said on Thursday that it does not want a trade war to start if the US imposes the first round of tariffs on imported Chinese products, but if it does then Beijing will be forced to react in the interests of the country and its people.
On Friday, the US will initially impose a set of tariffs on 818 Chinese items worth about $34 billion. Separate measures affecting 284 products worth about $16 billion could take effect following a review and public comment process.
China has repeated several times that it was not going to impose tariffs before the US does so, Commerce Ministry spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference here.
"US measures are essentially attacking global supply and value chains. To put it simply, the US is opening fire on the entire world, including itself," he was quoted as saying by Efe news.
"China will not bow to threats or blackmailing and our resolve to safeguard global free trade and the multilateral mechanism will not waver."
Nearly 50 per cent of the products subjected to tariffs, accounting for more than $20 billion, are manufactured by foreign firms in China, a majority of them American, Gao said.
He also said that the US move amounts to violation of provisions of the World Trade Organisation's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and of the Agreement on Safeguards.
Gao called on all countries to unite against protectionism and unilateralism. "China will work with other countries to fight against the regressive tide of backward, outdated and inefficient protectionism and unilateralism and will maintain a stable and predictable global economic and trade environment."
Beijing had already warned President Donald Trump that if tariffs on Chinese products are imposed, it will react with tariffs on 545 goods imported from the US.
Despite warning of retaliatory tariffs, the spokesperson expressed China's intention to protect the interests of all the firms based in China and help them diffuse the potential impact of a trade war.
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Case filed against MP Tejasvi Surya for allegedly sharing fake news about farmer's suicide
Kannada Dunia, Kannada News editors also booked for spreading fake news
Haveri: A case has been registered at the Savanur police station in Haveri against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, accusing him of spreading false information regarding a young farmer's suicide due to "trouble over Waqf Board property."
FIRs have also been registered against the editors of the Kannada Dunia e-paper and Kannada News e-paper in connection with this matter. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by Sunil Huchhanavar.
It was reported by media outlets Kannada Dunia and Kannada News that a farmer named Rudrappa from the Haranagi village in Haveri district had taken his own life due to distress over Waqf property issues. Tejasvi Surya allegedly shared this false news on his X account, claiming, “Tragedies like these are occurring daily in Karnataka due to CM Siddaramaiah’s and Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed’s minority appeasement policies.”
However, Haveri district police conducted a fact-check through their X account, clarifying that the claim about Rudrappa's suicide due to Waqf issues was false. Police Superintendent clarified that Rudrappa took his life after his crop, which he had cultivated with a substantial loan, was damaged due to rain. "The police investigation revealed that Rudrappa was distressed over loan repayment due to crop damage. A report on this was submitted to the Tahsildar, and the government has provided the family with Rs 5 lakh in compensation," the SP stated in the fact-check release.
Following this, Tejasvi Surya deleted his tweet. Nevertheless, FIRs have now been registered against Tejasvi Surya and the editors of Kannada Dunia and Kannada News on the same matter.
