China urges U.S. to ‘calm down’ in trade dispute, says its tactics will not work

Reuters: China on Thursday urged the United States to “calm down” and return to reason after the Trump administration sought to ratchet up pressure for trade concessions by proposing a higher 25-percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump directed the increase from a previously proposed 10 percent duty because China has refused to meet U.S. demands and has imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. Trump’s threats of higher tariffs weighed on China’s financial markets. But Wang Yi, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, said U.S. efforts to pressure China would be in vain, urging its trade policymakers to “calm down”. “We hope that those directly involved in the United States’ trade policies can calm down, carefully listen to the voices of U.S. consumers…and hear the collective call of the international community,” Wang, a member of the country’s state council, or cabinet, said in Singapore.