China: US trade policies are ‘confidence killer’ for global economy

China’s foreign ministry slammed what it called a U.S.-led trade war, saying the Trump administration has “dragged the entire global economy into a place of danger” with tariffs and threats of trade barriers.

“The U.S. trade war is not just with China but with the rest of the world,” said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, according to Reuters. “By regarding the rest of the world as adversaries, the U.S. has dragged the entire global economy into a place of danger.”

Hua said that the trade war was a “confidence killer” for the global economy, and warned that the rest of the world would push back if the U.S. continues to push tariffs.

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“If the U.S. continues to be willful, countries around the world will only harden their resolve to hit back,” Hua said.

The Trump administration hit China with tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods earlier this month. That prompted an immediate response from Beijing, which slapped tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods.

Before that, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico, prompting retaliatory measures targeting American products such as motorcycles and blue jeans.

China’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter of 2018 as the trade war with the U.S. intensified, according to Reuters.