China's Commerce Ministry said on Friday it was getting impossible to discuss the issue of the tariffs in the light of US President Trump's new statements on duties, adding that Beijing is prepared to respond if new tariffs imposed on Chinese goods.
"If the United States published a new list of products valued at $100 billion, China is well prepared and will launch forceful response without hesitation," Gao told a briefing.
President Donald Trump said earlier on Friday the United States will become a much stronger nation after proposed tariffs against China take effect, saying the move might cause "a little pain" in the short term.
"We've already lost the trade war. We don't have a trade war, we've lost the trade war," Trump said, adding that eventually, the US will gain from the imposed tariffs.
In a statement earlier on Friday, Zhang Ming, the head of the Chinese mission to the EU, urged Brussels to take a joint stand against US protectionism.
"China and the EU… should take a clear stance against protectionism, jointly preserve the rules-based multilateral trade order, and keep the global economy on a sound and sustainable track."
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Earlier in the day, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Beijing will take on the US "until the end at any cost," in case Washington disregards opposition from China and the international community and insists on carrying out unilateralism and trade protectionism.
According to the White House, new tariffs were designed to offset the advantages that China had gained through their unfair trade practices. Beijing responded to the new measure by imposing import tariffs on US products.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said that Beijing was forced to initiate a dispute resolution procedure to protect its legitimate interests, taking into account the fact that the US side refused to negotiate compensations.
In March, US President Donald Trump signed an order to impose a 25-percent import tax on steel and 10-percent duties on aluminum. The new tariffs would be in place for an unspecified period of time, but the European Union and six other US allies, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea, were given a temporary exception until May 1.
