China threatens to retaliate after Trump announces new tariff hike

China threatened on Friday to levy retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in response to President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would place new tariffs on Chinese goods beginning next month.

China’s government accused Trump of violating his agreement with President Xi Jinping to revive negotiations aimed at ending a trade war between the two economic powerhouses, The Associated Press reported. 

Xi and Trump had agreed to hold off on implementing additional tariffs during a June meeting at the Group of 20 summit.{mosads}

But Trump tweeted Thursday that the U.S. would impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods beginning on Sept. 1 as the U.S. and China continue to negotiate trade talks.

If the new tariffs do go into effect, “China will have to take necessary countermeasures to resolutely defend its core interests,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chuying told reporters, according to the AP. 

“We don’t want to fight, but we aren’t afraid to,” Hua said. She called on the Trump administration to “abandon its illusions, correct mistakes, and return to consultations based on equality and mutual respect.”

Trump’s latest tariff hike adds to the existing 25 percent tariff on $250 billion in Chinese goods and would cover almost all products the U.S. brings in from China. Beijing has raised import duties on $110 billion of U.S. goods, according to the AP.

…during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the White House during a meeting of Southeast Asian ministers in Bangkok on Friday.

“Adding tariffs is definitely not a constructive way to resolve economic and trade frictions, it’s not the correct way,” he said, according to the AP.

The Chinese government has also threatened to release a list of foreign companies that are “unreliable entities” and would be restricted in doing business with China following the Trump administration’s restrictions on sales of American technology to the Chinese tech company Huawei, according to the AP.

Stocks dropped Thursday after Trump’s announcement, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing a 311-point gain and closing 281 points below its Thursday opening. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 lost gains of more than 1 percent.