OREANDA-NEWS  Beijing will take retaliatory measures against the new US duties, according to a statement on the website of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.

"China strongly opposes this, and will also take countermeasures to protect its rights and interests," the publication says.

The ministry did not agree with Washington's claims that the United States was suffering from the current situation in international trade.

"The United States claims that it is suffering losses in international trade, and under the pretext of so-called "reciprocity" it is increasing duties for all trading partners. This approach ignores the balance of interests achieved over the years of multilateral trade negotiations and does not take into account the fact that the United States itself has long benefited significantly from international trade," the department added.

In addition, Beijing believes that the US duties do not comply with the rules of international trade and cause serious damage to the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, since the decision to impose tariffs was made on the basis of subjective assessments.

"This is a typical practice of unilateral harassment. Many trading partners have already expressed strong dissatisfaction and clear protest," the ministry concluded.

On Wednesday evening, US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of reciprocal duties on imports from other countries. The base minimum rate will be ten percent, but for each country, the tariff will be calibrated to be half of what they charge companies importing American goods. According to the politician, this will be a declaration of the economic independence of the States and will help to use huge funds to pay off the national debt.