BEIJING: China on Saturday angrily hit out at the latest US tariff hikes on its goods, saying a “bullying” Washington would eventually “eat its own bitter fruit”.

European leaders have also warned US President Donald Trump of the dangers of trade skirmishes with China and Europe, which look set to dominate the G7 summit due to begin in France.

Trump on Friday increased existing and planned tariffs on a total of $550 billion in Chinese goods, in response to new tit-for-tat levy hikes announced earlier that day by Beijing on $75bn of US imports.

A Chinese commerce ministry spokesman on Saturday denounced Washington’s “unilateral and bullying trade protectionism”.

The tariff increase “seriously undermines the multilateral trading system and the normal international trade order, and the US will surely eat its own bitter fruit.

“The Chinese side strongly urges the US side not to misjudge the situation, not to underestimate the determination of the Chinese people, and immediately stop its mistaken actions, otherwise all consequences will be borne by the US,” the spokesman said.

By the end of the year the feud will affect nearly all imports and exports between the two countries, with US companies — many of whom rely on China for inputs — particularly worried by the rapidly changing conflict.

EU Council President Donald Tusk on Saturday warned that Trump’s escalating trade tensions with China and Europe could force economies around the world into recession.

Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron, host of the G7 summit in the French city of Biarritz, also warned of the widespread fallout from the trade disputes.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2019