The United States violated World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and pulled the trigger on a 25-percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports on July 6, launching the largest trade war in economic history. In a bid to uphold its core national interests and the interests of its people, China had to take necessary countermeasures by imposing tariffs on selected U.S. imports.

Recently, the United States has provoked a trade war by imposing tariffs on imports from many economies including China, Canada and the European Union. It seems that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's strong backing of protectionism intends to challenge economic globalization all by itself. Since the United States is the largest economy in the world and the leader of the global economic system where the dollar dominates, such a move by the Trump administration is threatening the safety of global industry, hindering the recovery of the global economy and shaking the global market.

In view of the current situation, such a move has impaired the interests of some enterprises and people in both China and the United States. The rise of iron and steel prices in the United States has taken a toll on the industrial costs of downstream industries, while the decline of U.S. soybean prices has cut farmers' revenue. Other multinational companies, common enterprises and consumers have also been adversely influenced.

Many Chinese exports are produced by foreign enterprises in China as the country is a major supporter and participant of economic globalization and the global industrial chain. About 59 percent of the $34 billion tariff-imposed products—worth more than $20 billion—are produced by foreign companies in China, including a considerable proportion of U.S. enterprises. Given this fact, the U.S. tariff is actually imposed on China, enterprises from many other countries and even U.S. enterprises, a move which essentially undermines the global industry and value chain.

In this regard, the trade war ignited by the United States is against market rules and not in line with the current global development trend. China's countermeasures are not only meant to safeguard its interests, but also to uphold the free trade system and the common interests of peoples around the world.

China lodged an additional complaint with the WTO over tariffs formally implemented by the United States under the Section 301 investigation on July 6 when the tariffs were imposed on Chinese products. China hopes to act under the WTO multilateral trade rule system and will safeguard economic globalization in practice. The country will unswervingly commit to deepening reform and expanding opening up, protecting entrepreneurship, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, and creating a good business environment for foreign-invested companies in China.