Beijing [China], April 14 : China has called on the United States to correct its mistakes by "completely cancelling" its tariffs, describing them as "wrong practice" and urging Washington to return to a "path of mutual respect" towards Beijing, France 24 reported.
This appeal comes amid escalating trade tensions between the two nations, when US president Donald Trump announced a 90-day delay on tariffs for most countries, including the European Union, China was notably excluded from this reprieve.
This move has further heightened tensions between the world's two largest economies, as per France 24.
"We urge the US to take a big step to correct its mistakes, completely cancel the wrong practice of 'reciprocal tariffs' and return to the right path of mutual respect," a commerce ministry spokesperson said.
According to France 24, the US and China have been locked in a tit-for-tat tariff war since President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, including a staggering 145 per cent duty on Chinese goods. In response, China imposed retaliatory tariffs of 125 per cent on US goods, effective Saturday.
Washington again dialled down the pressure Friday when the US Customs and Border Protection office said smartphones, laptops, memory chips and other products would be excluded from the global levies.
Beijing's commerce ministry on Sunday called the exemptions a "small step" by Washington and said that China was "evaluating the impact" of the decision.
The new exemptions will benefit US tech companies like Nvidia and Dell, as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.
US Customs data suggests the exempted items account for more than 20 percent of those Chinese imports, according to senior RAND researcher Gerard DiPippo.
However, semiconductors could still become a target of industry-specific tariffs Trump has suggested placing on imports from all countries.
Trump said Saturday that he would give a "very specific" answer to the question of any future semiconductor levies on Monday.
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