China slams US trade threats as 'blackmail', warns of countermeasures

[BEIJING] China on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump's threat to impose 10 per cent tariffs on US$200 billion of worth of Chinese goods was "blackmail" and warned it was prepared to take countermeasures if Washington goes through with them.

The US "practice of extreme pressure and blackmail departed from the consensus reached by both sides during multiple negotiations and has also greatly disappointed international society", China's commerce ministry said in a statement on its website.

"If the US loses and issues a list, China will have no choice but to take comprehensive measures of a corresponding number and quality and take strong, powerful countermeasures."

AFP