(Feb 23): China said it’s closely monitoring the Trump administration’s plan to push forward his tariff regime with other trade tools, in its first official remarks since the Supreme Court invalidated the president’s broad emergency tariffs.
Beijing is currently conducting a comprehensive assessment of the implications of the ruling, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Monday.
“We have also noted that the US side is preparing alternative measures, such as trade investigations, in an attempt to maintain tariffs on trading partners. China will closely monitor these developments and firmly safeguard its own interests,” the person said in a statement.
China’s first official comments on the ruling came days after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs. Trump later said he will reimpose a 15% global tariff and pledged new trade investigations.
A key equities gauge of Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong rose as much as 2.6% on Monday morning. Despite Trump’s new levies, Bloomberg Economics calculated that would mean an average effective tariff rate of around 12% — the lowest since his “Liberation Day” tariffs were released in April.
Investigations under Section 301 and Section 232 have previously been used to place duties on Chinese exports, automobiles and metals. These alternative legal authorities could allow the White House to enact more import taxes despite the ruling.
See also: US tells partners to honour tariff deals as Trump recalibrates
Still, for China, which also saw a 10% fentanyl tariff scrapped by the court, exports now face less punitive rates. Beijing also repeated a call for the US to drop its unilateral tariffs, saying they benefit no one.
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