China says it is impossible to hold trade talks with the United States with a new round of tariffs in place.
U.S. imposed duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and a retaliatory set of tariffs imposed by Beijing on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, took effect on Monday.
Chinese vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen asked reporters in Beijing Tuesday how can any talks proceed now that the Trump administration has adopted such "large-scale restrictions," which he said is like "holding a knife to someone's throat." Wang led a Chinese delegation to Washington for the last round of talks between the two sides in August.
The new U.S. duties covers thousands of Chinese-made products, including including electronics, food, tools and housewares. The new tariffs begin at 10 percent, then will rise to 25 percent on January 1, 2019. Among the items included in the new Chinese tariffs on U.S. products are liquefied natural gas.
Economic forecasters say the trade spat between the world's two biggest economies could slow the global economy through 2020.中国表示，在新一轮关税开始实施的情况下不可能与美国进行贸易谈判。
美国从周一开始对价值2000亿美元的中国商品征收关税，北京则对价值600亿美元的美国商品征收报复性关税。
中国商务部副部长王守文周二在北京对记者发问说，如果特朗普政府现在采取这种“大规模限制”，就像“刀架在脖子上”，怎么能够继续进行任何谈判？王守文今年8月率领中国代表团到华盛顿参加了双方最后一轮会谈。
美国的新关税涉及数千种中国制造的产品，包括电子产品、食品、工具和家庭用品。新关税税率从10％开始，然后在2019年1月1日升至25％。而中国新征关税的美国产品包括液化天然气。
经济学家预测说，每种世界两大经济体之间的贸易争端可能会导致全球经济在2020年前放缓。