(Bloomberg) -- China said it was ready to retaliate against the latest threat by the U.S. to raise tariffs on its goods.
“China has made full preparation for the U.S. threats to escalate the trade war, and will have to retaliate to defend national pride and the people's interests,” China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Thursday on its website.
The Trump administration said this week that it's considering increasing the proposed tariff on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent. President Donald Trump has asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider hiking the duties, which could be implemented as early as next month.
At the same time, the U.S. indicated it is open to restarting formal negotiations with China, though Beijing must agree to open its markets to more competition and stop retaliating against U.S. trade measures.
“ The U.S. is playing a carrot-and-stick tactic on China, but this approach is not going to work on China,” the ministry said.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Brendan Scott
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