File Photo:VCG

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), a major Chinese trade body, on Thursday urged the US government to remove all additional tariffs on Chinese goods, in the wake of the Biden administration's renewed tariff waivers for 352 Chinese items. 

China-US economic and trade relations are essentially about reciprocity and mutual benefits, and there are no winners in a trade war, Yu Yi, spokesperson of the CCPIT, said in a news conference.

China's industrial and commercial community welcomed the US decision to reinstate product exclusions, as well as many US entrepreneurs who considered the move as propitious to revive normal trade between the two economies and convey a positive signal of normalizing bilateral trade ties, Yu said.

"We hope the US government will cancel all tariffs on China as soon as possible, based on the fundamental interests of Chinese and American consumers and enterprises, and provide a more favorable environment for normal trade between business circles of China and the US," Yu remarked.

Chinese and US trade teams are maintaining normal communications, Shu Jueting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters on Thursday.

As a WTO member, the US should align its trade policies and practices with the organization's rules, rather than pushing for unilateralism and protectionism under the guise of new trade policies and actions, Shu stated. 

Since 2018, Chinese and US businesses have taken a hit from a continued escalation of frictions in bilateral trade, according to the CCPIT spokesperson, describing China-US trade ties as mutually dependent and inseparable.

"Benefit to one means benefit to all, whereas harm to one suggests harm to all," Yu said, highlighting that the lift of tariffs will directly improve the real economy of both countries.

It cannot be ruled out that a small number of companies in individual countries might benefit from abnormal trade relations, "decoupling" and even geopolitical conflicts in the short term, but cooperation and development are the mainstream views of the global business community, most enterprises, employees and consumers in the world, the trade body said.

Strengthening global trade cooperation, including between China and the US, is particularly important under the impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine conflict for global markets, Yu told reporters, citing remarks by US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, who disagreed with claims that trade globalization is ending, as CNBC reported.

"I really have to push back on that," Yellen said, adding that "we are deeply involved in the global economy. I expect that to remain, it is something that has brought benefits to the US and many countries around the world."

On that same line, Yu remarked that "we believe that the voices of the global business community can be heard more by more governments around the world."