China UK Photo: VCG
The UK government has hit back at suggestions the tariff agreement it reached with the US last week could be damaging to China, BBC reported on Wednesday. It said there was “no such thing as a veto on Chinese investment” in the deal, according to the report.
The UK-US agreement rowed back on big hikes in tariffs on metals and cars imposed by the US, but it also included conditions requiring the UK to “promptly meet” US demands on the “security of the supply chains” of steel and aluminium products exported to America, BBC said.
Last week’s trade deal included cuts to US levies on UK car and steel exports, but did not remove a baseline 10 percent tariff on British goods, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
UK officials have said Trump has made clear that China is the intended target of that condition, the FT said, noting that the deal specifies tariff relief for British products would depend on so-called Section 232 investigations, which determine whether and how specific imports affect US national security.
The Chinese Embassy in the UK expressed serious concerns about the media reports on the issue and has made representations to the UK, asking for clarification, according to a statement from the embassy on Wednesday.
The embassy said it must be emphasized that cooperation between countries should not target or harm the interests of any third party. China is firmly opposed to any party seeking a deal at the expense of China’s interests. Should that situation arise, China will respond as necessary, the embassy noted.
China will continue to closely follow the situation, it said.
In response to the latest comments from China, the UK government said the agreement with the US was “in the national interest to secure thousands of jobs across key sectors, protect British businesses and lay the groundwork for greater trade in the future,” BBC said.
Any “external provisions” in the agreement were “not designed to undermine mutually beneficial economic relations with any third country,” the UK government said, according to BBC.
As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury clearly stated, there is no such thing as a veto on Chinese investment in this trade deal, the UK government said, adding that trade and investment with China remain important to the UK, BBC reported.
The UK’s current response shows that the US adoption of a “linkage-based” tariff policy – imposing tariffs on other countries economically while using strategic pressure against China – is no longer acceptable even to its allies like the UK, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday.
This once again highlights the growing unpopularity of the US government’s differentiated and targeted approach to tariffs on countries around the world, Li noted.
The UK’s statement reflects a response aimed at safeguarding its own interests. However, this does not mean that the US has not imposed related coercive demands on the UK, the expert noted.
On the trade deals between the UK and relevant countries, “let me stress that cooperation between countries should not target or harm any third party,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday in commenting the trade deals that the UK has done with India and the US.
