Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday denounced “unilateralism” and said the world should not return to “the law of the jungle” when it came to trade, days ahead of talks between US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The statement, made at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, came just a day after China and the US said they had reached an “initial consensus” on a potential trade deal. Washington had also said that the 100% tariff on goods from Beijing was “off the table.”
“Economic globalisation and multipolarity are irreversible. The world should not return to the law of the jungle where the strong bully the weak,” Li was quoted by news agency AFP as saying, in a clear reference to tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on many countries, including China.
Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are due to meet on Thursday in South Korea to try to reach an agreement that would end their ongoing trade war.
Trump said en route to close US ally Japan that he was hopeful of a deal when he sees Xi on Thursday.
US says 100% tariff on Chinese goods ‘off the table’
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News on Sunday that Donald Trump’s threat of imposing an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods “has gone away.”
The proposed tariffs were part of Trump’s response to Beijing’s expanded export controls on rare earth materials, which are essential for global industries like electronics and defence.
“We had a very good two-day meeting. I would believe that the – so it would be an extra 100% from where we are now, and I believe that that is effectively off the table. I would expect that the threat of the 100% has gone away, as has the threat of the immediate imposition of the Chinese initiating a worldwide export control regime,” Bessent said.
China announced that they have reached a “basic consensus” on a potential trade deal with the United States, just days before Trump is scheduled to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
According to a report by Xinhua, the “consensus” was reached after two days of talks between Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and the US delegation led by treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.
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